Pure
by xxxkia
Summary: When Astoria blesses Draco with an heir, he lays the world at her feet. But through an accident he finds out a well kept secret regarding his son that makes him question the child's maternity. Draco tries to find out how Astoria had managed to give him a child that was obviously his but definitely not hers. Who is the real mother of his son?
1. Prologue

**Welcome!**

 **Just a few things beforehand:** **This is going to be a Dramione FanFiction. It's rated M for dark themes (and eventual smut).** _Disclaimer: **I don't own anything!**_

 **It's a Kid!Fic with a twist. I interpreted the trope "Draco-doesn't-know" in a new way. This is most certainly Anti-Astoria. And also Pro-Lucius/Narcissa and Pro-Ron and Harry :D** (I like Ron.)

 **Thanks to my beta** _Dramione84_ **!**

 **Enjoy** **,  
Kia**

* * *

 **1\. PROLOGUE  
**  
 _Malfoy Manor, December 2000_ **  
**

* * *

Draco stared at his son in utter shock. There was literally no way to describe what he was feeling while he watched his apparent flesh and blood change before his eyes.

The fine blond hair first turned thicker and then started to curl; the white-blond was darkening, first becoming a dark blond, then brown, until it settled at a dark brown. The toddler reached up giggling, tugging with his hands at the dark brown curls that spilt now all over his head.

Draco saw how his son lost his paleness; a darker skin tone settled, matching his dark hair.

His baby blue eyes, eyes that matched Astoria's perfectly, turned first light, then dark, changing their shade from blue to grey.

His son still giggled, rolling around on his Slytherin-green baby blanket, which Narcissa had gifted her precious grandson.

"Daddy!" he called, wanting his father to play with him but Draco still stood frozen on the spot, his wand clutched so tightly in his hands that it was a wonder that it didn't snap.

"Come, Daddy." his son had now gotten up and carefully walked over to where Draco was standing. When he reached him he latched on Draco's trousers, tugging at them to get his father's attention.

Father.

Draco stared at the child in front of him, the boy he thought had his blond hair and his mother's blue eyes. But now he looked so different and yet when Draco finally managed to look down to meet his son's eyes, his own eyes looked back at him. Slate grey, distinguished Malfoy.

His brown curls bounced as he still tugged with his tiny hand at Draco's trousers, giggling happily when Draco smiled back. He crouched down grasping the boy at the middle to pull him between his open knees. Long fingers ran through dark curls, the hair was soft and silky and Draco frowned at how different it felt to the hair his son had before.

"Daddy!" the boy reached up to pat Draco's cheeks excitingly, grey eyes sparkling and matching and Draco breathed out somewhat relieved. He could see his own features in the boy's face.

It was one thing to find out that his son had been put under a transformation charm and honestly the first thing that came to Draco's mind was that he wasn't the boy's father and that Astoria had lied to him. But the boy still looked so much like Draco, that the paternity was absolutely clear.

It was the maternity that Draco had to suddenly question.

Which meant that Astoria had not only managed to become his wife by telling him she was pregnant with his baby - if she ever was - but also to give him a baby that was so obviously his but most definitely not hers.

But whom had she taken him away from? Who was the real mother of his son?


	2. Prison

**Welcome back!**

 **You guys are insane! Oh my god, I never ever expected such a big response to this little snippet of writing, which basically tells you nothing! Thank you so much, this is really, really unbelievable!**

 **The next three chapters will basically cover the years after the final battle and work towards the scene in the prologue. I decided not to spend too much time in the "past" and focus more on what will happen once Draco finds out. But I also didn't want to just list things down, so I'll take the time in those three chapters to give you some sort of background.**

 _Disclaimer: **I don't own anything!**_

 **A special thanks to my betas:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **and** _throughhiseyes_ **!**

 **I hope you enjoy this part as much as the prologue,  
** **Kia**

* * *

 **2\. PRISON**

 _Azkaban, September 1998_

* * *

Draco stared at the letter in his hands.

He would be a father.

Something bubbled inside him but it was gone before he could even name it.

He squinted at the letter, his sight blurring the harder he tried to read it. A rogue spell during the final battle had damaged some of his nerve systems. Adrenaline and the urge to survive had made him not realise it at first- only after Madame Pomfrey had taken a look at him, had he noticed it. It was minor, the spell had barely grazed him and she could heal almost all of it. But sometimes, when he read, his eyes started to hurt and, after a while, he couldn't recognise the letters anymore.

The letter had come from Astoria Greengrass, a fellow Slytherin. Draco had known her since she was a child, her sister Daphne was in his year and their family had often been invited to his mother's balls and parties. Draco had… _rekindled_ with her when he had returned to Hogwarts for a few days after Easter.

The school was swarmed by Death Eaters and one wrong move, one wrong utterance against Voldemort could have been the last one. But Astoria was quiet, didn't broadly exclaim that she was on Voldemort's side like many did in the Slytherin common room in those days and Draco had found himself able to get lost in her comfort. She offered, and he would have been a fool not to accept.

He had assumed she was on the potion- every Pureblood girl should be because getting pregnant in school was something even Purebloods frowned upon. But then, it wasn't like they dated. Actually, Draco didn't _date_. He had been stressed and she was there and they had slept together a handful of times during the length of four days. That was about it.

Then Draco had left Hogwarts to go back to the Manor and he didn't return until the final battle. And the blond girl with the water-blue eyes had instantly vanished from his memory as soon as he had left.

It must have been the beginning or middle of April, he tried to remember, counting the months back in his head.

April and May were just a blur in Draco's mind because first he was sent back to Hogwarts, and then called back by his father, who had immediately taken Draco and his mother directly to the Order of the Phoenix.

Lucius had found out that Voldemort planned on using Draco as bait, as punishment for letting Potter, Weasley and the Mudblood escape from Malfoy Manor. Voldemort was determined that Harry Potter would risk his own life to save everyone, and he wanted to use Draco to lure Harry Potter back into Hogwarts. Lucius never got to know the actual plan but Voldemort wanting to use Draco as the messenger with the intention of him not returning had been enough for the Malfoy patriarch to forget all his principles. His pride, his beliefs, his mistakes. All he knew was that he needed to keep his family safe. And they wouldn't be if they stayed at Voldemort's side.

He had taken Narcissa and Draco and run to the Order to sell Voldemort out, giving them any kind of information they wanted, which would help them prepare for the final battle. The battle was won, Harry Potter lived, and the Dark Lord was finally dead.

However, the Malfoys weren't innocent. They still had to sit trial, but with their defection from the Death Eaters taken into consideration. Narcissa was exiled for a year to a Malfoy estate in France and Lucius was sentenced to three years in Azkaban. Draco himself had received a single year in Azkaban.

He had been here for four months already, and besides his father, he hadn't spoken to anyone else. His friends didn't care and probably had more important things to do than to visit him in prison.

Draco and Lucius both had received mild sentences. They both were placed on Level A of Azkaban, where the prisoners had a cell with a window which overlooked the never-ending sea. He had a bed and a sink, a loo and a small desk for his use. Meals were eaten in the cells, but all prisoners on Level A were allowed to spend every second day in a common room for about an hour. It was only a small room, with a handful of tables and chairs, one spare bookshelf with a few books and two sets of Wizard's Chess altogether, but it was better than the accommodations on Level F, which was reserved for all the other Death Eaters. Windowless cells, worse food, complete isolation.

Draco wasn't happy but he wasn't miserable either.

The blond still stared at the letter in his hand. He had received it that morning. Mail was coming in once a week, but besides a few letters which his mother had sent him, he had never received mail from someone else.

It had started innocently, asking how he was doing and then telling him some news regarding his friends. Pansy was engaged to Theodore Nott, Astoria's sister Daphne had started to date a Ravenclaw Draco had never heard of, and Blaise still resided in Italy with his mother. Draco didn't particularly care about these things, he realised while reading them.

Those people never were his friends, not really.

His grey eyes skimmed to the next part of the letter.

 _... anyway, everyone is rather well, considering the circumstances. But Draco, this wasn't why I'm writing to you. Remember, when we spent some time together back in Hogwarts, about a month before the battle?_

 _Well, I'm pregnant. I have known for a few months already and I was so afraid to tell you, which is why it took me so long to write. Please, you must believe me when I'm saying that you were the last man I was with._

 _I really don't know what to do and I hope this letter can prepare you a little. I would like to come visit you, Draco, if that is okay? I'm already showing and I would love to share this with you..._

He breathed out, his eyes burned. The rest of the letter blurred together and he had to put it down. He closed his eyes and rubbed over his eyelids with his thumb and index finger. His head began to throb.

He was going to be a father.

"Malfoy!" The guard barked, banging at his iron cell door before he spoke through a small opening. Draco flinched and turned his head towards the door. "Assembling time starts in about five minutes, get ready."

Draco quickly folded the letter and put it inside his prison overall. He got up from his desk and sighed, running a hand through his hair while he looked out of his small, barred window. The sea was quiet and the clear, salty air blew into Draco's face as he stepped closer.

He still had eight months to go in this Hell hole.

"Malfoy! Step back from the door, hold out your hands in front of you, we are coming in!" the guard barked again and Draco turned away from the window and towards the door, taking him only three steps to reach it.

The door opened and the guard walked in, wand raised, while Draco held both of his hands out, wrists up.

A binding spell was placed on his arms and an additional magic suppressing charm on him. Draco wasn't as trained in non-verbal magic as he could be, so he thought that the latter was rather unnecessary, but he knew that it was the protocol for when the prisoners were escorted to the common room.

Draco was led down the dark and narrow corridor. Other cells were lined along the wall but Draco knew that most of them were empty. There were only about ten prisoners on Level A, all the others were on the lower levels.

When they reached the door the binding was taken from his hands but the magic suppressing charm stayed on. Draco nodded towards the guard and then rubbed his wrists before he stepped into the small common room.

Eight of the ten prisoners were already there.

Draco strode directly to his father.

Lucius Malfoy was sitting at one of the empty tables, alone, and Draco almost snorted at the sight of his proud father in his dirty grey prison overalls. Despite everything, Lucius Malfoy kept his posture and his back was straight while he sat at a table, which had one shorter leg and was wobbly because of that. His hands were folded on the tabletop while his eyes wandered around the room calculating. He looked everything like the aristocratic bastard he always was.

"Draco," he drawled as Draco sat down on the chair opposite his father.

Draco just nodded.

The other prisoners didn't talk to them, even they knew what the tattoos on their forearms stood for. Lucius always made the point clear by wearing his sleeves rolled back, the Dark Mark stark against his pale skin. Draco still frowned every time he saw the same mark on his own arm.

He hated it.

"Father," Draco started and Lucius focused on him then, grey eyes sharp and Draco was suddenly a young boy again, who squirmed under his father's stare, knowing that he had done something that he shouldn't.

Lucius recognised Draco's behaviour and he raised a single eyebrow, saying nothing verbally but mentally, he forced Draco to his knees.

"What did you do?" he muttered, voice quiet so no one else could listen to their conversation.

Draco bowed his head, almost ashamed before he reached into his overall and pulled out Astoria's letter, pushing it over to his father.

Lucius seemed to be put out for a moment but then he caught himself and he slowly unfolded the letter before he started to read.

Draco looked up, face emotionless as he studied his father's face while he read the letter.

"Is she speaking the truth?" Lucius asked tightly, "is it possible?"

Draco waved his hand. "We had… relations during the days after Easter, when I returned to Hogwarts before you," he trailed off.

"And you just believe her?"

"I'm not stupid." The Malfoy heir looked up, offended. He had expected a lecture, a rebuke, a declaration of his stupidity. He had expected his father to rave on about how he had sullied the Malfoy name, how a child born out of wedlock would be social suicide. And somehow, Lucius managed all that with one simply question.

"Is there any reason to believe Miss Greengrass, Draco?" his father asked instead, impatience laced in his voice.

"Is there any reason not to? I slept with her and I know I didn't use a contraceptive. I just assumed she was smarter," Draco shrugged.

Lucius snorted. "You just assumed."

Draco stopped his ramblings to look up, cheeks heating. "I don't know if you remember, Father," Draco spat the word, "but it was after I had to watch Granger being drained of her apparently filthy blood. And when I mentioned after that her blood was as red as mine, my dear aunt had used the same method on me as she did on Granger. Mother sent me back to Hogwarts because she wanted to spare me the Dark Lord's wrath as well and Astoria was there, so _yes, I. Just. Assumed_."

"Considering the circumstances," Lucius sneered, making a point by looking around the room they were currently sitting in. Right, prison, Draco nodded absently. He tried to calm himself down.

His father continued, "I have to admit, it's not the best news."

Draco laughed dryly. Then he deflated, rubbing a hand over his face groaning.

Lucius' face soften for just a moment but Draco still had his face buried in his hands, so he missed it.

"Invite her, and then make clear to her that she will get the benefit of the doubt. But the paternity of every Malfoy child will be tested after it is born," Lucius exclaimed and Draco looked up again.

"And what if it isn't my child?" he asked.

"The answer to that question should be rather obvious," Lucius stated, looking sharply at his son. Draco nodded absently.

"But what if it is?" he paled slightly, rubbing his aching forehead.

Lucius sighed. He suddenly looked older than he was. "A few years ago, I would have told you to marry her of course, but now," grey eyes turned dark, "your mother will have my head for telling you this, but Draco…" Lucius leant closer, his eyes matching Draco's in colour, "you don't have to do anything."

Draco was literally speechless.

"Listen, son, despite anything I've ever told you, after the year is up and you are free, you should do anything you want. If you want to marry Miss Greengrass, go ahead. If you don't, then don't, but let me tell you something right now: I will stand for a child born out of wedlock, but I won't stand for a child to be abandoned. If the child is yours, you will take care of them, no matter what, but that doesn't mean that you need to marry if you don't want to," Lucius said with an authority that made Draco square his shoulders.

"Yes, Sir."

The blond wizard stared at the letter which laid in between them on the table. His vision started to blur, even his father's contours became fuzzy.

"Write her back, tell her that your are willing to listen to her story but don't make any promises, alright? Think about what you want," Lucius said now with a much more calmer voice.

"What if I do want to marry her?" Draco asked. "If she is carrying my child, I feel like I should, Mother always said-"

"Yes, yes," his father interrupted. "I know what your mother thinks about such situations but you have to be aware that things change."

"I guess," Draco said, then he nodded determinedly.

"I'll write her, tell her that she should come," Draco decided and now his father was the one who nodded. "Good. Fancy a game of chess?"

Draco smiled slightly.

* * *

He wrote her back but he didn't receive a reply for almost two weeks. When the mail came in the third week, he received a short answer, which told him that Astoria would be coming to visit him on the upcoming Saturday.

Draco didn't really know what to think about it. The thought of his child growing out there, outside of this prison, was still too absurd for him to believe.

From his bed - it really was more a cot - he could see directly out of the tiny window and every evening he watched how the sky turned dark and then how the stars appeared.

One constellation caught his eye because it was visible directly through the barred opening, and he fell asleep every night, and he dreamt of a boy with white blond hair and grey eyes.

* * *

Draco was wringing his hands nervously.

He was sitting in a small, windowless room. There was one table with a chair on either side. He had never been in the visitor room before, just because there was no one to visit him anymore.

Visitation happened during assembly time, but Draco had happily exchanged a game of chess with his father with a visit of Astoria instead. Unlike assembly time, visitation was limited to 15 minutes and then Draco would be escorted directly back to his cell.

Visitation is a privilege, Malfoy, the guard had told him.

Draco's hands were on the table, they were to be bound for the whole visit, as were his ankles.

But he didn't care, he didn't care about the uncomfortable iron chair, nor the table that dug into his arms, nor that his right leg had started to cramp up. He was excited, and his excitement wasn't even dimmed when the door opened and none other than Ronald Weasley walked inside the visitor room.

"Malfoy," Weasley nodded, taking a look at him and then at the room. Draco gave him credit for not showing any emotion because he was pretty sure that the redhead wanted nothing more than to openly sneer at him.

"During visitation, an Auror will stay in the room with you and your visitor. The guards will stay outside the door. I have sworn an oath that whatever is discussed in here won't leave the room unless it's a threat to the Wizarding World, so when you talk, talk clear, no mumbling, no codes. Don't touch the visitor nor try to exchange anything with them. No objects are allowed if they weren't approved by me first. The visitor needs to register them before the meeting with the appointed Auror. If any of these rules are broken or if the behaviour gets inappropriate, I'm authorised to cut the meeting short, send you back to your cell and escort the visitor back to the Ministry. So, behave." Weasley recited what was probably a chapter in his Auror handbook.

"Yes, I will," he said sincerely and Weasley looked at him, surprised. The redhead then nodded approvingly before he turned around to open the door.

Astoria stood on the other side and Draco's heart started to beat faster as she slowly stepped inside the room, ignoring Weasley completely. Her focus was on Draco. She smiled nervously and Draco's manners forced him to get up with a pained yelp.

"Draco," Astoria rushed, "please, sit down." She eyed his magical bonds before she walked over to the other side of the table and pulled the heavy chair back.

Draco nodded and he fell down back in his own chair, his eyes never leaving Astoria. "Tori," he greeted her and she blushed, her eyes darted back and forth. "Draco, thanks for agreeing to talk to me. I appreciate it."

He laughed hoarsely.

"Don't be," Draco insisted. "Besides, it's not like I'm awfully busy at the moment."

Astoria bit her lower lip then, looking even more nervously. She put her hands around her middle and Draco's eyes trailed down to her stomach. Through the thick cloak, he wasn't able to make anything out.

She must have seen his look because she suddenly reached up to part her woollen cloak, which had been wrapped around herself, hiding her body underneath. She wore a long dress but Draco could clearly see the bump.

He breathed in loudly, automatically reaching out to touch. Weasley coughed and Draco instantly pulled his hands back to cradle them against his chest.

Astoria quickly pulled her cloak around herself again, hiding away what Draco still couldn't really grasp.

"I'm 22 weeks along now," she told him. Draco had no idea what that meant.

"And you are sure it's mine?" he requested and her face fell. She narrowed her eyes. "Of course it is!" she snapped.

Suddenly, her face softened and she leant forward. "I'm sorry, the hormones," she smiled sadly at him. "There is no way of proving it to you now, but I wouldn't come here if it wouldn't be true. I don't want anything from you, Draco," she explained, her eyes grew sad. "My parents kicked me out, I'm currently staying at a friend's flat in Diagon Alley. Daphne comes to visit me but she's," Astoria trailed off, looking away, blinking away some tears.

He stared at her uncomfortable.

She then looked back at him, smiling warmly instead. "The mediwitch said that everything is fine and the baby should be born sometime in January. Around the 20th."

Draco just nodded. "Astoria, I…" he started but his words failed him and he just continued to stare at her.

Her smile disappeared and she looked at him sorrowfully. "Maybe it was a mistake to come," she announced and looked over to Ron, ready to give him a sign when Draco cleared his throat. "No, Tori, I mean… look, this is something I was not prepared for, and being in prison makes the whole thing even more complicated. I want to believe you, I do, but you must understand that right now, I just can't-"

Draco missed how Ron rolled his eyes behind his back.

Astoria looked at him sharply, everything the aristocratic Pureblood. "I know, it's too much right now. But I couldn't bare to tell you and then surprise you after you were released. I don't know which would have been crueller, you not knowing or you knowing while being in here."

Astoria then averted her eyes. "It's hard," she admitted. "I have one house elf, who helps me and I tried to hide it as well as I can. It's just, Draco…,"

"I will write my mother." Draco interrupted. "She's still under house arrest in France but she would be able to send you money or even let you stay at the Manor if you want to. Right now, that's all I can offer you."

"I'm carrying your son, Draco," Astoria straightened her back, her blue eyes met Draco's. "And I'm not someone, who wouldn't remember who she slept with. I'm wanting to give you a fair chance to be involved. I know you have to stay in here for a few more months and you will miss the birth and all the appointments but I won't let you patronise me out of pity," she hissed and Draco stared at the girl, whose nervousness was apparently gone.

"Son?" was all that Draco could say.

"Yes," Astoria huffed and she wrapped her cloak tighter around herself. She looked around in disdain. The walls were bare and wet and this place made her uncomfortable. Someone of her kind shouldn't be here.

Draco looked at her directly.

"Two more minutes," Weasley suddenly announced. The redhead cleared his throat, catching their attention.

"I'll write to you," Astoria told him then. "Maybe you do need time to think about it." She nodded towards Ron. "We don't need the two more minutes."

"Okay," Weasley shrugged and Draco looked at him, nodding absently.

Astoria appraised the blond man across from her when she got up. Draco had lost weight since the last time she saw him, and during the war, he had already started to diminish. He looked taller though, his features were sharper, especially his cheekbones. She knew that Draco had always been handsome and even now, while he was sitting there in a prison overall, he still looked so out of place but yet he was able to make it look like he fit right in. He desperately needed a haircut, it had grown too long now and he needed to tie it back so the strands wouldn't fall into his face.

Pleased, Astoria noticed that in a few years, Draco would definitely grow up right, a perfect mixture between Narcissa's beauty and Lucius' handsomeness.

She schooled her features and gave Draco an apologetic smile. Ron narrowed her eyes on her while he looked between her and Draco.

"I know that when you came back to Hogwarts in April and we spent some time together, it wasn't supposed to last and I accepted it back then. This," she placed a hand over her stomach, "this wasn't what I had planned and I don't expect anything from you like I said, but I hope that for the baby's sake we can work it out."

"Of course," Draco said automatically.

She gave him a nod. "I will write to you," she promised again at the same the time the door was opened. The guard who would escort Draco back to his cell was waiting outside already.

Astoria gave him one last glance before she walked out of the room, Weasley on her tail. The redhead stopped in the doorway, turning around to face Draco who sat at the table, gazing into space, feeling empty.

The blond looked up to meet Weasley's eyes. He received one short nod.

"Congratulations, Malfoy," the Auror said, as he disappeared through the door, following Astoria to take her back to civilisation. Draco didn't even have time to reply because Weasley was gone so fast.

"Thanks," he told the empty room instead.


	3. Tea

**Welcome back :D**

 **There is nothing much to say about this one, expect that it's from Hermione's POV!**

 _Disclaimer: **I don't own anything!**_

 **A special thanks to my betas:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **and** _throughhiseyes_ **!**

 **Enjoy,  
Kia**

* * *

 **3\. TEA**

 _Diagon Alley, September 1998_

* * *

 _The Leaky Cauldron_ was rather empty for a Saturday evening. Some wizards and witches were scattered around the tables, some of them together, some alone. Hannah Abbot was bartending, she started to help out Tom after finishing Hogwarts with the intention to take over once the older wizard retired.

Nobody paid attention to the two young men sitting in the darkest corner of the pub, their heads together, two Firewhiskeys in front of them while they were whispering like school girls.

Red hair flashed in the dim light of the dirty lamp as one of the men leaned back at one point, stretching his back before grabbed his glass to down his drink.

The other man looked at him, and green eyes wandered towards the bar, but he decided to wait to order again until the third member of their group had arrived. His black hair melted into the darkness of the corner, shaggy wild locks were pushed deliberately in his face, hiding his forehead and what laid beneath.

He looked around for the person they were still missing but he couldn't spot her, so he leaned forward again, towards the redhead.

"I'm tellin' you, Harry. Something's not right about her," Ron whispered, eyeing his empty glass and then Harry's, which was still full.

They had met for a late dinner in the Leaky Cauldron, and Ron had already told him about the visit in Azkaban, undertaken as part of his Auror duties. They both started Auror training directly after the war, as the Ministry had offered crash courses over the summer so many more Aurors could be trained in a shorter time than usual. A few from the DA had been accepted as well, and they had been a good group from the start. With some Death Eaters still on the loose and the many upcoming trials, the Auror Department had needed all the fresh blood they could get, as fast as possible,and because the course was so quick, they all had been placed in the field already. The Theory could be worked on later, and the Ministry realised they all had had enough practice enough already.

"Who again?" Harry asked confused.

"Uh…you know the girl. She wasn't in our year but her sister was and, uh, she was hot," Ron rambled on and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Great, Ron, just don't give me too many details. I might get too overwhelmed by all this information," Harry said sarcastically before he reached for his own glass and downed it as well.

Ron frowned. "Haha. Her name was Astoria, yes," he grinned proudly, "uhm, Greengrass. Astoria Greengrass. Her sister Daphne was in our year. They were both in Slytherin."

Harry shrugged helplessly. "I can't remember. It's not like I spent all my free time in the dungeons, having heart-to-hearts with Malfoy. What were you doing in Azkaban, anyway?"

"Oh, White called in sick today and Malfoy had a visitation scheduled, so they asked me to cover it. I mean, when they asked us after the war if we wanted to become Aurors, I actually hadn't expected that three months later they already would send me to Azkaban alone. It was rather wicked and Malfoy was even nice. He probably was still in shock that he will be a father."

"You think this Astoria told the truth?" Harry then asked.

"Why would she lie?" Ron looked at him confused.

"The Malfoys come with a lot of money, I guess. They have to pay a few fees here and there, and Narcissa generously donates to Hogwarts and several organisations, but I doubt it makes a dent in their vaults. Maybe she wants to trick him into a marriage," Harry shrugged. "Actually, I didn't come here to conspire about Malfoy and whatever scandal he's involved in, though."

Ron huffed. "Yes, but I'm telling you that something isn't right about that Astoria girl."

"You mean, besides that she slept with Malfoy?" Harry asked.

Ron laughed and Harry grinned smugly when a third voice interrupted them. "You two are worse than gossiping grandmas."

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed. "Where have you been? We already finished dinner."

"I'm sorry," the brunette said as she fell, exhausted into the chair across from them. She tugged at her cloak and fanned air towards her with her hand. "I was busy preparing everything for my trip." She straightened, keeping her cloak wrapped around her.

"When are you leaving again?" Ron asked, still smirking from Harry's joke.

"Next week, I'll travel by portkey to Sydney," Hermione announced, and smiled at her two best friends. "I hope I will find my parents quickly."

"Are you still sure that we shouldn't come with you?" Harry asked, his face concerned. While he and Ron had been busy learning how to be an Auror in less than two months, Hermione had returned to Hogwarts to help rebuild it and to re-take her NEWTs. Headmistress McGonagall had offered the opportunity to retake exams at the end of July, which Harry and Ron had had to attend as well.

Like them, Hermione had several jobs offered to her, but after the NEWTS, she had decided to travel to Australia instead to look for her parents. Only once she found them would she for a job and start her life.

It was rather uncharacteristic of Hermione, and of course Harry and Ron had offered to come with her more than once, but she said that they should focus on their Auror training and on being finally home. They all had been on the run for too long already, and finding her parents was something she wanted to do by herself.

And, like before, Hermione shook her head at Harry's offer. "No, I want to go by myself. I think I need to get away for a while."

"If you say so," Ron shrugged. "But if you need us, you'll write, alright? No matter what, we will come," he added and Hermione smiled and reached over the table to pat his hand.

"I will," she promised.

"Hey, do you want something to drink? Firewhiskey? Ron and I will get another round," Harry suddenly asked, standing up to go over to the bar.

"Uhm… actually, I would rather have a cup of tea," Hermione said. Ron raised his eyebrows, but Harry nodded and then he left.

"Tea?" Ron asked, sizing her up. "Are you cold or something? You haven't taken off your cloak and it's like, 30 degrees in here."

Hermione gave him a sharp look and he dropped it.

She fluffed up her cloak and pulled it tighter around herself protectively. The movement caused her hair to fall behind her shoulders and the dim light of the pub was enough to reveal the silver shining scar on her neck, reaching from below her ear to the underside of her chin. Ron stared at it for a moment. It still threw him off every time he saw it but then he caught himself and smiled at her.

"So, do you want to hear what I had to do today?" Ron changed the subject and the brunette looked up. "Sure," she smiled.

"I was asked to go to Azakan to supervise a visitation. The Ministry enacted a new rule that Aurors have to do it now, instead of the guards," Ron said proudly and Hermione narrowed her eyes. "They actually sent you to Azkaban?"

"Yes," Ron enthused and leant forwards. "And guess whose visitation I supervised?"

Hermione just have him a look and he continued. "It was Malfoy," he explained smugly.

"Draco?" the witch asked, surprised, and Ron frowned. "Don't call him that, it's creepy."

"It's his name, _Ronald._ " Hermione huffed, exhausted by Ron's demeanour.

Ron waved it off. "Anyway, Astoria Greengrass was visiting him, do you remember her?" Hermione nodded and Ron continued, "she's actually pregnant and Malfoy is the father," Ron said amused.

Hermione frowned. "Are you sure?"

The redhead growled. "Everyone keeps asking me that."

"You only told it to Hermione and me," Harry interrupted as he sat back down in his chair, having heard the last part of their conversation. He had two glasses in his hands and levitated Hermione's tea cup in front of her, placing it down on the table. Hermione smiled gratefully at him.

"I'm just saying," Ron held up his hands. "The girl looked genuine to me."

"I thought there wasn't something right about her?" Harry asked, confused, and Ron groaned, frustrated.

Hermione laughed at their banter, warming her hands on her hot tea cup. She had missed them so much. They all had been busy in the past weeks and it was rather hard to find a free day where they all had time to meet. Especially because showing up in public still caused a lot of attention. Alone it was already bad enough, but if the three of them showed up together, it was even worse. And then of course, Harry was busy with Ginny, and Ron was doing whatever Ron was doing. Hermione didn't even want to know. After the battle, they had decided to stay friends and since they had come to that conclusion, something had been lifted off their shoulders and they had never been as close as they were now. She looked at her best friends smiling before she interrupted their debate. "Like I said, you two are such gossips."

"Anyway," Harry said, shaking his head at Ron, who sipped at his firewhiskey, sulking, "I have something to tell you as well." He looked at them nervously.

"If it involves my sister, I don't wanna know." Ron grunted and Hermione rolled her eyes, slapping Ron on the arm.

"Actually," Harry blushed and Hermione gestured him to go on, "I do plan to propose to Ginny." Harry grinned while Ron grumbled a "here we go..."

"Ronald!" Hermione hissed and glared at him before she smiled brightly at Harry. "Oh Harry, congratulations!" She leaned over to give him a hug as best as she could. "Thanks," he said to her shyly.

"Of course!" Hermione laughed warmly. "We are so happy for you! Aren't we, _Ronald?_ "

Ron just muttered something incoherent in response until Hermione looked at him with a fierce glance. He first glared back at her and then at Harry, who looked at his best friend warily.

"Ron!" Hermione snapped and Ron moaned. "Yes, yes, calm yourself down, 'Mione."

Ron looked at Harry and rubbed the sore spot on his arm where Hermione had hit him. "No wonder you insisted on buying me dinner!" He grinned at last, and Harry laughed, pushing a hand against his shoulder. Hermione shook her head at the two of them.

"At least I didn't spend the evening discussing Malfoy and pregnant women," Harry retorted, and Ron snorted before he clapped Harry on the shoulder in congratulations.

They both were too busy to notice how the colour had drained out of Hermione's face at Harry's words.


	4. Birth

**Hello there :D**

 **So, here we go with a new chapter! Sorry for the long wait but as you can see, it turned out rather long, so it took some time to beta! I still can't believe what a response this story gets, with all the reviews, favs and follows! Thank you guys so much, it really makes me happy that you enjoy this plot so much!**

 **I'm also apologizing for the baby's name. I know canon and stuff but this is a unique situation, so I needed a unique name! It will all make sense in the end, trust me, so I'm sorry for those, who are disappointed... but look at it this way: in the prologue you saw that he isn't blond-haired/blue-eyed, so he never was a Scorpius in the first place ;-)**

 _Disclaimer: **I don't own anything!**_

 **As always, a special thanks to my betas:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **and** _throughhiseyes_ **!  
**

 **Enjoy this new part,  
Kia**

* * *

 **4\. BIRTH**

 _Azkaban, January 1999_

* * *

It was an exception.

Lucius had sent a request to Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt personally, explaining their circumstances. The Minister had granted it and that's how Draco found himself in the visitor room again about four months after receiving Astoria's letter. And this time, he was there together with his father.

They were sitting on one side of the table, both arms and legs were bound and instead of one Auror, two would be present.

They had a meeting with their lawyer, and Lucius had told Kingsley that they could do it the complicated way where the lawyer would meet with Lucius first, and then Draco, or the easy way where they would just talk to their lawyer together. It wasn't like the topic had anything to do with dark magic or murder.

Weasley was already there, eying both Malfoys with subtle interest, and Draco guessed that the second Auror would then escort their lawyer, Monsieur Frédéric Moreau, to the prison and back. It wasn't like Moreau hadn't been here before- he _was_ their lawyer and they _were_ in prison, but both Draco and Lucius knew that the sentence they received was more for show than for punishment.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been put in the most accommodating area of the prison and were allowed mail, assembly time and visitors.

However, the reason Lucius had requested to speak with Moreau had nothing to do with their crimes and convictions. It was of different nature.

"You know, Malfoy," Weasley suddenly said and Draco looked up when his thoughts were interrupted. He raised an eyebrow in question.

"That girl of yours, something's not right about her. I told Harry already and I think-"

"Weasley!" Draco growled stressed. "Besides that fact that I should congratulate you because you finally figured out how to use your brain, I don't actually care about what you think." The blond looked at him annoyed. "And she's not _my_ girl."

Ron looked offended and Lucius gave him an interested glance over Draco's head, but before anyone could say anything more, the door to the visitor room opened and Monsieur Moreau walked in, clutching a black ledger under his arm and looking at the Auror who had accompanied him in disdain. He was a good looking man, tall with dark hair and eyes and black glasses perched on his nose. Draco knew that he was his father's age, yet he looked about 20 years younger, wearing what was probably the most expensive designer suit available in Wizarding Paris.

Frédéric Moreau was the complete opposite of Lucius, yet the two of them knew each other since they were children and had been friends ever since. Draco knew that his father hadn't had real friends amongst all the purebloods Draco grew up with. The Moreaus were the only other family his parents really trusted. Not only financially as Frédéric was their lawyer but also emotionally because he would do everything in his hardest to help Draco in his situation. As far as Draco knew, the Moreaus had nothing to do with dark magic and they had nothing to do with the war. The Moreaus and the Malfoys went back centuries, both with their roots in France and they both belonged to the wealthiest families in the whole Wizarding World.

The black-haired man sat down across from the two Malfoys. He nodded towards Ron, who nodded back and then exchanged a look with the other Auror who had closed the door and stood in front of it, arms folded across his chest while he looked at the Malfoys with a sneer on his face.

"Lucius," Moreau said and Draco looked at his father, who smiled tightly at the other man. "Frédéric, _ca va_?"

"Ah _bien_ ," the Frenchman replied, then looked at Draco. "Draco, how are you?"

Draco shrugged. "Could be better."

"I can imagine," the man replied as the blond frowned.

"Lucius, I've brought everything you've asked me to," the lawyer opened his ledger to pull out a stack of parchment. He took the one on top and held it out towards the Auror who stood at the door. "I have approval from the Minister. They are permitted to sign the contracts I have brought, in addition to collecting a strand of Draco's hair and a small extraction of blood. I know that visitation protocols state that no touching is allowed, so I put in the request prior to my arrival. You should have received your own copy about two weeks ago, Auror White," Moreau said. According to Auror White's face, which had turned red, he wasn't happy about it. He as much as snatched the parchment out of Frédéric's hand, expression darkening further when he read of the Minister's approval.

Moreau smiled, pleased at the reaction, before he focused on Lucius and Draco again. "I also contacted Miss Greengrass and she was certainly very cooperative, telling me that the due date of the baby is in about ten days from today and that she will contact me as soon as the baby is born."

"She will contact you?" Lucius asked and Frédéric nodded, reading through his notes. "Yes, she said she wants to have a home birth, the old way."

Lucius was stunned and Draco looked at his father in interest. "How..." Lucius started, " _traditional_ of her."

Frédéric shrugged. "She currently resides at Malfoy Manor, as per her invitation from Narcissa, who has been keeping me updated, and sends her greetings by the way. Besides your family's house elves, Miss Greengrass has brought her own, which according to her will be present at the birth."

"Wait," Draco interrupted, looking at Moreau. "What do you mean in the old way?"

"It's traditional for Pureblood wives to birth a first heir at the ancestral home of the family, rather than in a medical facility. The father and husband is not invited to attend. Only the wife and one selected house elf are present while the baby is born." Lucius answered automatically, Moreau agreeing with a smile.

"Oh," Draco mumbled and his father looked at him.

"It's actually quite rare for women these days to follow that tradition. House elves, as good as they might be, are not especially trained for birth complications and nobody wants to risk losing an heir because of that. I was born at the Manor but my parents already called a Healer to assist with the birth. You were born there as well but Narcissa had been seeing a midwife and when she went into labour, the midwife just came to the Manor. There is a house elf present, but more for show than anything else, they normally just assist by bringing water and towels."

"Exactly," Frédéric seconded. "Back in the day, Healers were rare, which is why the family had to rely on the house elves. With time they realized that making sure that the child is born safely was more important than tradition, especially because the birth rate for Purebloods was so low."

"So, why does Astoria want to do it then? Why not go to ?" Draco asked confused.

Frédéric sighed, "I think she's trying to make a point."

"Stupid girl," Lucius muttered under his breath.

Draco furrowed his brows in understanding. "The Malfoy heir, born in Malfoy Manor in the traditional Pureblood way," he mumbled and Frédéric looked at him in sympathy.

"At this point, it is her decision," he stated. "But she does still insist that it is your child, and when I wrote to her and said that I'm the one who does the paternity test on every newborn Malfoy child, she instantly agreed to do everything I want. Which should rather speak for her, I believe."

"Frédéric tested you as well," Lucius explained to Draco then. "He saw you before I did." He looked at the man across from him, frowning as if he still was upset about that fact. "Another tradition, I suppose. When a Pureblood wife goes into labour, not only is the Mediwitch called, but also the family lawyer. After the birth, a test is undertaken by the newborn child to determine paternity. If the result is positive, the lawyer informs the husband and he is finally allowed to see his heir, knowing fully that it is his flesh and blood. If the child isn't his, then, well…" Lucius trailed off.

"So, you will take some of my hair and blood now, and then when the boy is born, Astoria will notify you and you will go to the Manor and conduct the paternity test with the baby by yourself?" Draco clarified.

Frédéric replied, "Yes. Because the birth date is already so close, I'll be staying at a family estate in England so I'm only a short floo call away. After I do the test, I will send you the result immediately. I have already requested an exception from the Minister about that as well. I know that mail only comes in once a week, but in this case, you will receive the letter as soon as it arrives here. The guards will be made aware of the circumstances, and trust me when I say that I'll check if you have received it. There will also be no more restrictions on your sending of letters. You will be permitted to write to myself, your mother and Astoria as often as you like. I included that in my request as well," Frédéric said and patted the stack of parchments between them.

"Thank you," Draco said to the older man, who smiled at the young Malfoy heir he had watched grow up.

"Have you been in contact with Miss Greengrass, Draco?" Frédéric asked then, and Draco sighed.

"She visited me in September I think, but I know that I upset her by not believing her right away, so we have only communicated through a few letters since then. She wrote that she still thinks that I'm 'confused, probably because I'm in here,' but she'll forgive me once it has been proven that she is carrying my son. She actually offered a paternity test long before Father wrote you, writing that if I wanted actual proof, she would be happy to give it to me once the baby is born. She refused to come here again though, and said that she will only visit me again once she believes that I believe her," Draco told them.

He had spent the better part of four months debating whether or not to believe her. Some days he did, but other days he didn't. When Lucius had informed him that he contacted Frédéric, Draco had calmed down. He knew that he could only accept it once he had proof that Astoria was pregnant with his child.

He was mostly confused because he started to like the idea of being a father. Having something so innocent, so pure, unsullied through the war or Draco's past decisions. A tiny baby that wouldn't know what the Dark Mark on his arm meant, and that didn't know his dark family history. They probably would some day, but Draco would have enough time to prove that he wasn't as coldhearted as everyone thought he was.

He knew that he could be a good father. Great, even.

But allowing himself to feel that way, excited to be a father, accepting Astoria's story, just to be disappointed in the end if it turned out to not be his child? He wouldn't be able to bear it, so instead, he would think the worst until proven otherwise. Otherwise, he would break even more- which would be quite the task, considering he was so broken already.

He had told Astoria that, not in those exact words but similar, begging her to understand and she had tried. She told him that there was no doubt, she knew this was his baby, it was impossible to be anyone else's, but that she could understand his fear, and she would be willing to leave him alone until the baby was born. But after the birth, she wouldn't give him anymore time. He would take responsibility or he wouldn't.

Draco had agreed to that.

Frédéric exchanged a look with Lucius. Draco's father had written in his letter to him that his son was struggling with his feelings towards the girl.

And for Draco's sake, they both hoped that Miss Greengrass was genuine.

"So, I think our time is up soon, so let's get to the unpleasant part. Draco, I need a few hairs and some blood from you. I wasn't allowed a wand but the Head Auror told me that the Aurors would assist me in that task," Frédéric looked at White, who was still looking gruffly and unpleasantly at the little group at the table. Frédéric turned toward the other Auror in the room.

"Mister Weasley, correct?" he asked. Ron looked at him, surprised, before nodding. "I'm afraid your colleague over there might take too much pleasure from a simple blood extraction, making it more complicated that it should be. Would you mind assisting me?" Frédéric asked, pulling a small vial out of his ledger.

"Uhm… sure," Ron nodded slowly, pulling out his wand and stepping closer to Draco. He eyed White warily, who looked even more angry at the lawyer's insult, and Ron knew that it was the right choice to do it himself. He took the small vial and walked over to Draco. "I'll take some from the vein in your right arm, Malfoy," he announced. Draco nodded, turning his arm as well as he could in his binds so Weasley had access to the crook of his arm.

Lucius was watching the redhead's every move as he lowered his wand and put the tip against Draco's arm. Ron mumbled the incarnation for the blood extraction spell and as he pulled his wand back from Draco's arm, a thin red line of blood left Draco's arm and moved into the vial. Ron ended the spell and sealed the vial before giving it back to Monsieur Moreau. He checked Draco's arm, but besides a tiny red dot where the blood had been extracted, the blond seemed fine.

Draco nodded thanks in his direction. Weasley gave him a nod back.

"And now a few hairs," Frédéric said and leant over to pluck some out. He put them in a second phial and together with the blood, he put them back in his leather ledger.

"Alright, now I need you both to sign this contract here," Frédéric said and pulled out a self-inking quill, then put a parchment in front of them. With their hands in binds it was quite difficult, but because Lucius didn't seem to have any problems, Draco tried to not look as clumsy as he felt.

"Wait," Draco suddenly said when Frédéric started to pack his things. "Yes?" the lawyer looked up at the younger wizard.

"Uhm.. could you give me some parchment?" Draco asked as he was still holding the quill in his hand and Frédéric reached pack in his ledger and pulled out a blank piece. He pushed it over to Draco, who quickly wrote something down, then he clumsily rolled the parchment up. "Could you seal it, please?" He turned to Ron, holding out the letter as best he could. The Auror was too surprised to react at first, but he nodded, pulled out his wand again, and sealed the small scroll. "Thank you," Draco muttered absently as he gave the scroll to Frédéric, who looked at it, perplexed.

"In her last letter, Astoria told me that she wanted me to pick a name for the baby, probably another way to prove to me that she is carrying my son. I wrote back that I would give the name to you and that you would give it to her after you did the paternity test," Draco explained and Lucius looked over at his son, feeling somehow proud.

"So, please, when you go and do the test, and if he really is my son, give this to her," Draco's eyes glossed over and he got a distant look in them. "But if he isn't..." the blond whispered, eyes becoming clear again, "then please destroy it without opening it."

"I will, Draco. I promise," Frédéric answered sincerely and Draco smiled flatly.

"Thank you, Frédéric," Lucius said when White showed signs of becoming impatient- clearly their time was up. The lawyer inclined his head once, sharing a look with his old friend before he closed the ledger, having put all his things away neatly inside it.

"I'll write you, Lucius, Draco." He got up then, and nodded towards Ron. He made a point of ignoring White, who had opened the door to lead the lawyer back outside the visiting room. He turned in the doorway to address Weasley. "The guard will take Lucius Malfoy back first while you wait here with the other one. Once he comes back, you can leave as well. I'll see you back at the Ministry."

Ron rolled his eyes after the other man had disappeared with Monsieur Moreau. For the first time ever, Draco had to agree with Weasley's sentiments.

"Malfoy," the guard stepped inside and pointed his wand at Lucius's feet. "Come on, I'll escort you back to your cell."

"Draco," Lucius addressed his son, who looked up to meet his father's eyes. He blinked once before Lucius looked at Ron, who looked surprised that he was recognised by the Malfoy patriarch. "Weasley," Lucius drawled, and Ron raised his chin in acknowledgement.

The guard then led Lucius outside the visitor room, the door fell shut, and Ron and Draco were left behind.

Draco then groaned and buried his face in his hands as much as he could. "Bloody Hell," he cursed.

"I hate to break it to you," Ron said into the quiet room, "but I still think that there wasn't something right about her."

Draco actually looked up. "You think so?"

Weasley shrugged. "She does keep you on a short leash, doesn't she?"

Draco cursed again. "I don't know what to do. I mean, it could be my child but there's always the possibility it's not." He banged his fists against the iron table, making them sting from the impact.

"Well, I've think you've got it covered with your test and all. And in what? Ten days? You will have the answer," Weasley stated and Draco had to agree. "I guess."

The door opened again and the guard came in, gesturing for Draco that he would be escorted now. The binds from his ankles were lifted and he got up, following the guard out of the room.

"But still," Weasley added and Draco stopped to look over his shoulder. "Something's not right. Mark my words, Malfoy."

The guard forced Draco to walk away before he could answer.

* * *

The letter came twelve days later, on the morning of the 22nd day of January. Draco had been sleeping when the guard banged on his door and he had jumped up, ready to fight out of habit- but there wasn't a wand he could have grabbed from underneath his pillow, and his bare feet hit hard on the concrete floor.

He tries to shake the sleep off while he stumbled to the door. A glance towards the window showed that it was still dark outside.

"Malfoy! Your lawyer sent you a letter and we have direct orders from the Minister to get it to you immediately," the guard barked from outside the door before pushing a rolled up scroll of parchment through the hatch in the door that they talked or passed meals through.

Draco accepted it with shaking hands. He was unable to say anything.

A second scroll appeared and Draco took it as well, and then a quill which was passed through the hole to him. "There's also parchment and a quill for replies. I'll be back in an hour to collect them."

The small flap was closed firmly over the opening and Draco was alone in his silent cell, holding his future in one hand.

* * *

He hadn't touched it for the longest time. The scroll, sealed with shiny blue wax and the Moreau seal, was sitting on the small desk in his cell while Draco himself was sitting on the cot, his eyes never leaving the scroll.

He stared across the room and at the taunting piece of parchment which held the truth about Draco's son.

This was truly nerve-wracking, even more when his father refused to write his mother about Draco's situation and he had forced Draco to do it himself, which was almost scarier than defecting Voldemort Writing to his mother after the first meeting with Astoria, telling her that he had apparently had fathered a child out of wedlock during the final months of the war was something that Draco wouldn't wish on anyone.

His mother's reply had been short and direct, no emotions, no scolding, unfortunately, Draco knew that she was anything but pleased.

In the last few months, Draco had thought daily about Astoria, the pregnancy and how he had arrived at this whole screwed up situation. He remembered how his mother had begged him to go to Hogwarts and to Snape after the Golden Trio had escaped from the Manor around Easter. She knew that the Dark Lord would return and he would be furious, so she wanted to at least get him out of the way.

And saying that the Easter weekend threw him off was an understatement.

Watching Granger almost bleed to death in his sitting room was the last straw for Draco to realize that he didn't want to be part of such hatred. So, he had complied with his mother's wishes and returned to Hogwarts, but it wasn't the same there. Death Eaters who tortured students like Longbottom, because he had refused to hurt first years, and students, who tried to emulate the Death Eaters by actually taking joy in torturing the younger children had made Hogwarts an awful place to be.

Draco almost felt sicker than at home.

Astoria had been so different at the time, calm and kind, and had asked him for advice for a Potions assignment, and Draco had just wanted to forget. Had wanted to get rid of Granger's screams and the smell of her blood that replayed over and over in his head.

And so he had propositioned Astoria during their study session and she had agreed, and that was that.

It wasn't glamourous or romantic, none of his relations ever were. He did use her and he was pretty sure that she knew that. It gave Draco something to do and he was able to forget where he was for at least a few hours, so he welcomed it without further regret.

It hadn't been real but Draco didn't particularly care.

Unfortunately for Astoria, Draco had forgotten about her as soon as he left Hogwarts again and he had never spared her another thought until that day four months ago, where she sent him the letter that had changed everything.

He had spent four months debating if she was telling the truth or not.

And now he could know, the still unopened scroll on his desk was holding all the answers and yet Draco was too much of a coward to finally put his mind at ease.

He laughed aloud dryly, how ironic was it that in a situation like this, Draco actually wished for the first time in his life that he had some of that Gryffindor courage.

But he also knew that time was running out, the guard would come back soon to collect his replies and later during assembly time, his father would definitely want to know the result.

Taking a deep breath, Draco finally got up from the bed and walked slowly over, then stopped and stared down at the scroll. He broke the seal and gently unrolled it, his eyes scanning over Frédéric's handwriting.

Tears prickled in his eyes when he finally came to the part where it said that his blood was a match to the newborn's. The paternity test potion was positive.

Draco had a son.

* * *

"So…" Lucius said while staring at the letter in his hand a few hours later during assembly time. Like always, Draco sat across from his father, watching his reaction closely. When Draco had entered and walked over his Lucius, he had only extended his hand and Draco had given him the letter wordlessly.

"...I'm a grandfather," he finished after reading through Frédéric's letter twice.

"Yes," Draco helplessly answered, not knowing how to reply to such a remark.

"Well, congratulations are in order," Lucius added without sounding like he actually was congratulating, but Draco decided to ignore it. He smiled proudly at his father.

"Thank you."

"Did you write to your mother already?" Lucius asked, starting to read the letter for the third time.

Draco nodded. "Yes, I wrote to her and Frédéric. And I wrote to Astoria of course."

Lucius looked up. "Of course you did." He narrowed his eyes at his son, knowing exactly what was going on in Draco's head.

The blond looked down, blood rushing to his cheeks. "I asked for her forgiveness."

"Oh, you better have," Lucius stated. "She did birth the Malfoy heir, after all."

"I know," Draco sighed. "I asked her to come visit me again. So we could talk."

Lucius raised one eyebrow. "To talk?" he said slowly and Draco blushed harder, yet he kept eye contact with his father.

He squared his shoulders. "I'll ask her to marry me."

Lucius looked at him, then back to the letter and then back up at Draco. "What brought that on?" Lucius discarded the letter to focus on the game of chess between them again. He had set it up before Draco had come in but the anticipation to find out about the truth behind Astoria's story had kept them from playing. Lucius opened the game with his pawn.

"It's the right thing to do, _Father_!" Draco announced sharply. "I sincerely have no idea since when your whole ideals became so… loose… but I for one still was raised by my mother's standards, which… once upon a time apparently, had been yours as well. Astoria will make a respectable wife and she gave me a son, so I think she deserves a little gratitude and that's why I'll ask her to become my wife. I won't let my first-born heir grow up as a bastard born out of wedlock."

Lucius stared at his son, who looked so much like him at that moment that he was afraid to blink to find him staring at his own reflection instead of Draco. Something close to pride swelled in Lucius because obviously, he had raised Draco in the Malfoy way but at the same time, he felt threatful. Draco had been raised too close-minded, Lucius realized that now. He had seen his son start to doubt the Dark Lord and during the battle, he knew that Draco had actively fought on the Order's side, so had he and Narcissa, but Draco had understood it on his own and Lucius had been so glad to see it.

And then, he had hoped that Azkaban would give Draco time to think and he had used their conversations to lead Draco away from Lucius himself, so Draco could be his own man. And, once he was free, he could do whatever he wanted.

"I see," Lucius looked up after his rook took one of Draco's knights. "If that is what you want."

Draco looked irate. "You don't sound as happy as I pictured it."

"You pictured me reacting to your proposal plans?" Lucius nodded towards his Queen, who destroyed one of Draco's pawns.

"Well, yes…" Draco admitted. "You know, me marrying a pureblood, having an heir… isn't that what you always wanted from me?" the blond asked, confused, not caring about the game anymore.

Lucius looked up sharply. "That's what you thought I wanted from you? You being married and having a son?"

The younger Malfoy shrugged helplessly. "Yes."

Lucius sighed. His head hurt and he knew exactly why.

"I want you to be able to decide what you want, Draco. Every parent wants that for their children. When I started to follow… well, back then, I thought a world without Muggles or Muggleborns would be a better world, a world where you would be treated how you deserved to be treated. I wanted you to have every freedom possible. It was never about the money- we have enough of that- but about the possibilities." Lucius laughed dryly. "I was wrong. I realise it now. Instead of opening the world for you, I narrowed it down, getting you locked up in prison. Everyone will always look at you for who you are, not because you are a Malfoy but because you were a Death Eater; because I let you become a Death Eater."

Draco was quiet, looking at his father, who then cleared his throat and gave his knight a little push with one finger.

They had had a few heart-to-hearts during assembly times already, probably because they always spent the hour together. It made Draco understand his father better; something he never had before. And he quite liked it, to be honest, spending time together and talking. Somehow Lucius was much more content. The surroundings weren't ideal of course, but Draco could live with it in exchange for getting to know his father better.

"So, what I'm trying to say is, if you want to marry her, then do it. You have my blessing," Lucius said and Draco smiled at him.

"Don't gloat," his father demanded and Draco's face fell. He concentrated on the game again but he had clearly not been paying enough attention because he was now watching his father's Queen was beheading his King.

"Checkmate," Lucius drawled.

* * *

Later that night, Draco lay in bed, gazing out of the window.

Astoria had written him back and the guard had delivered the letter after assembly time already. She wrote that she needed some recovery from the birth first, but that she was willing to come back to visit Draco, as he obviously believed her now.

She was glad that Draco had finally accepted that truth.

The blond clutched tightly to the photo that had been attached to the letter. It wasn't much, and he hadn't expected it, but there he was. His perfect little son. He was wrapped tightly in a blanket, wearing a tiny hat, so only his face and one tiny little fist was visible in the moving black and white photo. He was sleeping at first, but then he stirred, yawing before he went back to sleep again.

Draco hadn't let go of the photo since he had gotten the letter. It was too dark in the cell to see anything properly but Draco still held on to it tightly.

He smiled, counting the days until he would finally be able to hold his little promise of happiness. Because that was what Draco saw in this little baby. Finally something he did right, and he would do it right by asking Astoria to marry him, no matter what everyone else said. And then, he would get the chance to raise his son properly. He would do this right because Draco was sick of screwing up and making wrong decisions.

His grey eyes traced the constellation of stars he could see while laying on his bed. Against the black night sky the stars glittered, millions of them scattered all over, but Draco only had eyes for one constellation.

The one which represented a raven in the eternity of the black night sky.

 _Corvus_.

* * *

At the same time, on another side of Azkaban, facing North, Lucius Malfoy was standing at the window in his cell.

Similar to his son, he was gazing up at the stars, but it was a different constellation which caught his eye. He spotted the star Eltanin at first, the brightest star, and one eye of what was supposed to be a writhing dragon in the dark sky.

Despite what everyone thought, he and Narcissa had not had an arranged marriage. They met at Hogwarts and Narcissa had hated him. She was smart, top of her class, and he was arrogant and selfish. He could have had anyone he wanted but he wanted her.

He courted her and he would have done anything for her.

At that point, he hadn't even cared if she turned out to be less than Pureblood.

She was everything he wanted, and it took blood and sweat and patience and humiliation to win her over, but in the end, he did, oh, how he did.

It had been years since Lucius had recalled those first feelings for Narcissa. During Voldemort's time, his thoughts had been dark and determined. When he was young, he hadn't cared as much about blood as he should have- his father had lectured him often enough- but Narcissa had opened his eyes that people weren't much different from each other.

With time those notions were forgotten, but since he and Draco were put in Azkaban they had started to come back, and as clear as day Lucius remembered how he would have given up everything he ever owned- his inheritance, his name, his status- if only he could have Narcissa.

Before Draco had told him about the pregnancy, Lucius had started to hope again that his son might still have had a chance after he was released. Maybe his mind could be broadened like it should have been. Draco could have done anything he wanted, gone out there and looked for the one person who really deserved him.

Lucius had the feeling that Astoria Greengrass wasn't it.

* * *

Astoria didn't return until one month after the baby's birth. She had written Draco long letters, including a picture every time, which Draco was allowed to keep in his cell.

He worshipped them. Every day and every night he would look at them, at the tiny bundle in the pictures and his heart would swell with so much pride and happiness that he didn't even care that he was currently in prison.

He had anticipated this day like nothing else, and when he was finally sitting in the visiting room again, he knew that he was only minutes away from seeing Astoria, and from hearing her tell him everything about his son.

The door then opened and Weasley stepped back in to give him the same lecture as last time.

"Yes, yes," Draco waved him off and Weasley rolled his eyes, annoyed before he opened the door again and let Astoria in.

The blonde woman smiled brightly as she was sitting down across from Draco. She was draped in a heavy winter cloak to keep herself safe from the chilly Azkaban air. The place was quite drafty, and even Draco had received thicker clothes and the open window in his cell had been sealed shut with magic to keep the cold out.

Astoria continued to smile, but she looked exhausted now that Draco could look at her better. "Hello, Draco."

"Astoria," He breathed. "How are you?"

She shrugged. "Tired. But well, mostly." She looked at Ron in question, who nodded at her. She reached into her cloak to pull out two more pictures that Draco was eager to get his hands on.

"This is him," she said, pleased at Draco's eagerness. "He's so precious, Draco."

"He's perfect," Draco murmured when he finally was able to look at the two newest photos. One showed his son on a baby blanket, to which Astoria pointed out that his mother had sent, and another was a picture of Astoria holding the baby against her chest, rocking him slightly.

She blushed as Draco stared at the picture in fascination.

Draco was taken aback for a moment at how calm Astoria seemed. She had been furious in their last meeting and in her letters after. He had expected her to be more distant, that would have to beg her for forgiveness for his stubbornness, but it looked like she had forgiven him already.

"Oh, you have no idea how happy I am that you finally believe me," she gushed at him, but Draco was too busy with the new pictures that he didn't see the gleam in her eyes.

The blond stared at the pictures between them, then he looked up and Astoria looked at him in all her innocence. Ron narrowed his eyes at her from behind Draco but she ignored him. "Oh Draco, I was so afraid that I had to do this on my own but now that you believe me, I'm sure that-"

"Marry me."

His words were spoken clear and direct into the silent visitation room. Even Weasley stopped fidgeting around.

Astoria stared at Draco in utter surprise. "Excuse me?"

Draco's eyes caught hers. "Marry me, Astoria and I swear that I'll make sure that you never go without." He wanted to reach out to grasp her hands but the restraints kept him from it, and he frowned, agitated, when he tugged at them, getting desperate.

"Draco, Draco… _Draco_!" Astoria tried to calm him down and he stopped, looking up at her through his fringe. She grinned. "Of course I'll marry you. What an honour," she laughed.

Ron scoffed but Draco looked at her with bright eyes, too far gone in his happiness to notice it.

"Brilliant," Draco said, staring at the pictures of his son and his fiancé happily. "He's perfect, Astoria."

"I know." The blonde woman said, looking satisfied. When Draco looked up again to meet her eyes, she smiled sweetly.

Their moment got interrupted by Weasley. "Two Minutes," he announced and Draco sneered at him for the first time. All he got back was a tight smile.

"Oh now I have so much to plan," Astoria rushed. "And I have to write your mother and my parents to tell them the wonderful news. They all weren't pleased by the fact that our little boy had been born out of wedlock but now we will correct this and oh, Draco, I'm so happy."

The Malfoy heir smiled pleased at her. "Don't worry, Astoria. I won't have everyone talking bad about you or our son."

"Yes, wonderful." She sighed happily, falling back in her chair.

"Time is over," Weasley said then before Draco could reply. The door opened and the guard was ready to take him back. Astoria got up, smiling encouragingly at Draco.

"Less than three months and you will come home."

He nodded at her but Weasley was faster as he had led her outside of the room already, throwing back a confused glance at Draco. The redhead shook his head and then focused on Astoria again to safely escort her back to the Ministry.

Draco stared longingly after her.


	5. Freedom

**Hey y'all :D**

 **Here we go, a new chapter, yay! Again, sorry for the long wait but I originally planned so much more for this one but then it got too long and now I had to split it up. Therefore, this chapter will focus on Draco's release day from Azkaban and how he meets Corvus for the first time.**

 **The next chapter will then work towards the scene from the prologue and cover the next one and a half years after this chapter. And then the story can finally begin ;-)**

 **Thanks for all the reviews, favs and follows! You can't imagine how happy I am over every alert I get!**

 **I try to cover all questions that might arise for the reader, like how Draco gets his wand back and so on. But please feel free to ask me anything. Either send me a pm here or over at tumblr. I'm** _xxxkia_ **over there as well and my ask is always open.**

 _Disclaimer:_ _ **I don't own anything!**_

 **My beta-list got updated, so a big THANK YOU to all the people, who help me with this story:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **,** _throughhiseyes,_ SKDMHG **,** _Sinful824_ **!**

 **Enjoy this new part,  
Kia**

* * *

 **5\. FREEDOM**

 _Ministry of Magic, May 1999_

* * *

"Sign here, Malfoy." Harry Potter told him and pointed towards the line at the end of the parchment. Draco was currently sitting in the Ministry of Magic, having been brought from Azkaban to a small room, which reminded him of the visitor room in the prison. Yet he didn't care, his sentence was served and he was ready to be released.

"Ron will be here briefly with your belongings," Potter added and Draco nodded. He sighed as he released the quill with a flourish, the feeling of a good quill was something he quite missed.

"So, because of your, umm, crimes, you are needed to report to an Auror for the next twelve months following your release. You will find all details on here." Potter gave him a new piece of parchment at which Draco squinted with concentration. The release contract had taken all of his concentration and his eyes started to blur, which made it nearly impossible for him to read the new parchment. He cursed himself.

"Oh, right, I forgot." Potter murmured when he saw Draco's struggle. "Maybe you should go get that checked out as soon as possible. I remember that Madame Pomfrey was extremely irritated when the Aurors arrested you in Hogwarts after you suffered from that nerve-damaging spell without giving you the option for an actual treatment."

Draco shrugged. "It's fine. It mostly happens when I read too much."

"Well," the dark-haired wizard pushed his glasses back on his nose intentionally but Draco couldn't even see it. "Basically it says that you will have to report back to an Auror once a month for the next year. This is just to make sure that you adjusted yourself in the Wizarding community again and that you don't have any lasting, uh, issues from Azkaban. You will have your full magic, no trace or controlling but the Ministry is reserved to investigate you in case of a potential threat. You have to sign it as well, you'll get a copy and we will." Potter explained and Draco squinted again until he saw the line at the end of the parchment.

"Fine," he just said and signed it. "Who do you I report to?"

"Uhm?" Potter paused, going through some papers. "I think, Ron was assigned to you."

"Weasley?" Draco scoffed but then the door opened and all he saw was a flash of red.

"Well, could be worse," he added then.

"Malfoy." Weasley said and put a box on the table on front of Draco with a bang. The blond flinched surprised and then frowned as his surroundings started to blur further. "Maybe you are right, Potter." he admitted.

Ron grinned at Harry before he pulled out a vial from his cloak. "Here, I picked up a potion for your eyesight. It should get you through the day."

Draco held out his hand. "Well, what are you waiting for, Weasley? Hand it over already." he demanded while looking in the wrong direction. Ron rolled his eyes but then reached out to put the small vial in Draco's outstretched hand. Draco tried to stay unfazed when he realized that Weasley was to his right instead of his left like he had assumed.

He shook his head quickly before he pulled open the vial and threw back the bitter tasting potion. But instantly his sight cleared again. "Oh, this is brilliant." he looked down at the empty vial in his hands.

"It's also addicting." Weasley added. "We had permission to give it to you because you assumed that you had to read through a lot of contracts and whatnot today. You should consult St. Mungo's for a more permanent solution."

"Sure." Draco mumbled, taking a second look around him again. He nodded towards Weasley, who just shrugged and then placed a box on the table in front of Draco. Then he put a change of clothes on the box as well.

"Your possessions that you had on you when you were arrested on May 6th in 1998, four days after the Battle of Hogwarts. It was sealed then and it remains sealed. It includes your wand," Ron stopped to look at Harry, who nodded confirming.

"It was really difficult to convince everyone to give it back to you because they wanted to keep it and display it in the Atrium as the wand, which killed Voldemort. I told them that you wouldn't appreciate it." Potter added and Draco scoffed.

"Never thought I say this but you were right, Potter."

Potter grinned at him. "Anyway, I fixed my wand and gave you back yours, so they couldn't say much because it is your rightful wand."

Draco nodded shortly.

"Yes, well, like I said, all you possessions and so on. And your lawyer told me to give you these." Weasley gestured to the clothes. "You will have a few minutes to get dressed and take a look if everything is there. Your lawyer is waiting outside and will then talk to you once you're ready. After that, Harry and I will bring you to a separate floo room. The Atrium is packed with reporters, so we decided to let you use a private one to go home."

The redhead looked over to Potter, who give him a short nod. Then Weasley took out his wand, mumbled an incantation and the seal on the boy was broken.

"We are done here." Potter told him, then hesitated before he extended his hand towards Draco. The blond stared at it, then looked up to meet Potter's eyes before he finally accepted it.

"You're free, Malfoy." Potter stated, shaking his hand. "Don't screw it up."

Without another word, two parts of the Golden Trio left the room and Draco stared after them confused.

He then got up, and it was the first time that he wasn't restrained or magically bound and as ridiculous as it was, the first thing Draco did was walk three round around the table before he stopped in front of the box.

He put the clothes aside for a moment before he lifted the box, staring at the few things that took him back a year. There wasn't much you pack for war, Draco mused then he took each object out to examine it.

The first thing was his Malfoy ring. Goblin-made from silver, the Malfoy crest engraved on top so detailed that when Draco used the signet ring to seal letters so that every little bit of his family crest can be found in the wax seal. He turned it around in his finger, rubbing his thumb over the top before he put it back on. Since he had gotten it from his father, he had never removed it but when he was arrested they told him to take it off because he wasn't allowed to wear it in Azkaban. Draco would have rather given the ring to his mother for safekeeping but it wasn't allowed and it was Kingsley, who promised him that this box would be sealed magically and that it wouldn't be opened until the day he was released.

He slid the ring on his finger, a heavy weight that he had terrible missed.

The next thing was a pouch of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. It was rather ridiculous to bring a joke article to a war but Draco had liked the effect and He had brought it with him to Hogwarts in case he needed it. He put it aside, his thoughts quickly wandering to the Weasley twins and then to the one of them, who hadn't survived.

He reached in to take out the next items. Two Galleons at which Draco frowned upon questioning. He turned them around in his hands until he realized that it was the coin that Potter had given to him during the battle. He had already known about the coins Granger had made for the DA and which had allowed them to communicate with each other. The other Galleon was still a mystery to Draco because he knew that he hadn't been given two coins. He turned it around and it was clear that it was fake like the other and probably charmed in the same way but Draco couldn't recall how he possibly had gotten it. He shrugged and put to to the other one, next to the pouch.

Then there was only his wand left and Draco breathed in before he reached for it, letting the magic spread through him as soon as his fingertips touched the Hawthorn wand. He was desperate to do magic but he knew that once he started he wouldn't be able to stop, so he quickly took the wand out to put it on the table as well. Later, he promised himself.

Draco got dressed then, getting rid of his prison clothes and exchanging them for tailored robes, which he reminded himself he needed to thank Frédéric later for. As soon as he was finished, there was a knock on the door, reminded him that there were still some formalities to deal with before he could finally go home.

To see his son.

The door opened and Frédéric Moreau walked into the room and Draco turned to him smiling. "Draco, I'm so glad that you are finally free again." Frédéric put a hand on Draco's shoulder and squeezed.

"Thank you, Frédéric."

The older man smiled, clapping Draco once more on the shoulder before he hold up his ledger and gestured to the table. "Let's get this out of the way, so you can go home, alright?"

Draco nodded and the two of them sat down at the table. Frédéric took some parchments out if the ledger, pushing them towards Draco, who skimmed over them.

"I brought you some contracts that need signing. With Lucius still in Azkaban, you will be the Head of house for the time being and you will have access to all of your family vaults. Lucius and I already set up a contract that gives you full permission to everything. And I also have some certificates regarding your son." Frédéric explained while Draco sorted through the contracts. "And I set up a marriage contract as well but we don't have to discuss that here."

"Yes, let's do the latter at the Manor over some firewhiskey." Draco admitted, then he looked at the parchments that the lawyer had spread out in front of them.

"So, what do I have to sign? Let's make it quick, so I can get home to Astoria and the baby."

"Of course." Frédéric nodded. "For now, it's just those two contracts, one giving you power over the family assets and the other gives you executive power of the family business if you choose to pick it up at some point." He gave Draco another quill, one that was obviously even better than the one Potter had given to him and Draco sighed at the feeling of it.

"Just sign here and here."

Draco did and then watched as Frédéric gathered the parchments to pack them away. He pulled out another one. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, that your mother has been back in England for a week already. She will be waiting for you at the Manor as well."

Draco smiled at the news, then his attention was captured by the certificates in front of him. He frowned. "What do you mean that Corvus can't be legally my heir?" he pointed on the parchment and Frédéric looked up to study the same paragraph. "I'm sorry, Draco, but because the boy was born out of wedlock, he cannot be legally accepted as your heir. Any Wizengamot would deny Corvus as the Malfoy heir because of his situation."

"But it isn't even his fault. Nor Astorias or mine. I was in prison, I couldn't even get married even if I wanted to. This is utterly ridiculous." Draco raved and Frédéric tried to calm him down.

"I know, I know. And I know that you already see Corvus as your heir but unfortunately, the laws prevent him from being it. Don't worry, Lucius and I are already on it because there are still the Malfoy family laws."

Draco scoffed. "I know those laws but it was impossible for me to marry Astoria in prison, also her story could only be proven when Corvus was born, so what if I had married her and it wouldn't have been my son? This is bollocks!" Draco cursed and leaned back in the chair, his mood sinking. "Can't I just sign something that makes him the legal heir?"

Frédéric sighed. "Unfortunately, the laws are strict and any case taken in front of the Wizengamot would be handled according to those laws."

"What about a last will? What if I legally set up a will that names Corvus as my legal heir. Society might not see him as such but I don't care and my parents won't care."

"I'm already working on a will for you, Lucius and Narcissa that should cover that problem but let's discuss that in greater detail at the Manor." Fédéric assured him. "I still need you to sign the birth certificate. It won't make Corvus the Malfoy heir but it will give him Malfoy as his last name. You will have to accept the parentage of him."

"Of course I will." Draco murmured, clutching the quill he had picked up again tighter. He signed the certification without hesitation, placing a flourishing _Draco Lucius Malfoy_ beneath the statement.

It declared Draco the father of _Corvus Lucian Malfoy_.

* * *

After Frédéric told him that he would come by the Manor tomorrow and wishing Draco good luck with everything, the two of them left the room after Draco collected the few items from the box, the copies of the Ministry contracts and the ones from Frédéric.

Draco clutched his wand tightly as they told Potter and Weasley, who had waited outside the room, that they were done and that Draco was ready to go home.

They were led to a room just a few doors down the hallway and Draco was quite glad that he didn't have to go through the Atrium with all the nosy reporters. Did they know about Astoria and Corvus?

The private floo room wasn't anything spectacular but Draco was at a point where he didn't care anymore because all he wanted to do was go home. Frédéric sensed it and he said his goodbye to Draco as soon as they reached the fireplace. Draco returned the gesture before he finally stepped into the fireplace, grabbing a hand of floo powder.

"Malfoy Manor." He demanded and the green flames flared up, devouring him whole.

* * *

 **Malfoy Manor, May 1999**

* * *

He stumbled out of the fireplace not so gracefully, his eyes hurt from the bright flames and he had to blink a few times to adjust them to the rather gleamy light in the floo room of the Manor.

"Draco!"

Before he could looked up, he was already engulfed in a tight hug and Draco instantly knew that it was Narcissa. "Mother." he breathed and hugged her back.

"Oh my precious little boy." she leaned back and Draco saw the tears running down her cheeks. She placed both hands on each side of Draco's face and smiled through the tears happily at him. "Oh, I'm so glad that you're out of that horrible place. Oh my little dragon." she buried her face in his neck again and Draco patted her back helplessly.

"It's alright, Mother. I'm fine." Draco assured her but she just clung to him tighter.

"Mother, where is Astoria?" Draco asked then, looking around while his mother stepped back, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. She was obviously trying to pull herself together again. Then she frowned. "I don't know."

"Then where's Corvus?" Draco asked and Narcissa's eyes shone brightly. "Oh Draco, he's in his nursery. Let me bring you to him."

Draco swallowed as he followed his mother through the manor. They didn't talk on their way to the nursery, which used to be Draco's when he was young. Narcissa held Draco's hand in hers, squeezing it reassuringly while Draco followed, excitement and anxiousness building inside of him.

When they reached the two double doors, Narcissa stepped aside, mentioning for Draco to go through first. "Go on, darling. I'll give you a moment alone with him first. He's sleeping at the moment." she smiled warmly at her son and Draco swallowed again, his throat dry.

He carefully opened the door, trying not to make any loud sound.

The room was dimly lit, the heavy velvet drapes closed over the wall-length windows. Draco remembered what the nursery looked like from his childhood. Ironically it was also the room where he hid while Voldemort was in their house along with his Death Eaters, who thought they owned the place and there wasn't one room where they didn't just waltz in like the rude morons they all were.

The library, the gardens, the guest suites, even the kitchen, they were everywhere. Draco didn't even have his own room for himself and so he ended up in his mother's wing, in the old nursery, which ironically all Death Eaters ignored for Draco's luck.

His mother had found him there once, sitting in her old swing chair, reading a book while everyone else in the house prepared for the Dark Lord to return from one of his trips. Draco didn't care and Narcissa had smiled when she found him in the room, which was opposite of her rooms. The nursery hadn't been in use for over 15 years, yet the house elves kept the room marvellously cleaned like every other room in the gigantic manor as if any minute a new baby would need its use.

Narcissa always told him that it was one of the most beautiful rooms in the Manor.

The walls were deep dark blue with golden ornaments and decorations. The blue velvet drapes, which as well as the baroque windows,reached the ceiling from the floor and were heavy enough to keep every light out. The furniture was white and gold, handmade nonetheless and Draco was pretty sure that the gold wasn't just paint.

Draco looked up at the ceiling, which similar to the Great Hall in Hogwarts was permanently enchanted, showing a clear night sky, all the stars sparkling against the dark background. Draco instantly spotted his own constellation, as well as Andromeda, Sirius and even Bellatrix. He paused when he found Corvus.

He smiled, then he stepped closer into the room, eying the chests, drawers and shelves, which were still full of children's stuff, some old and some probably new. The white cot was standing in the middle of the room, on a white manticore fur rug, and Draco spotted the bundle inside the cot.

His heart stopped for a moment and he froze midway towards the cot. He breathed in, taking a moment before he continued until he was standing right next to it.

His son was sleeping peacefully, hands formed tiny fists next to his face. Draco saw the blond hair matted against his head and he smiled brighter, leaning his arms on the cot while he watched his little baby boy sleep.

He didn't know how long he was stood there, taking in every detail of his son, from how big he was to what his chubby face looked like. He heard his mother enter the room but he didn't look up until he felt her hand on his shoulder.

She smiled at him. "Isn't he beautiful," she whispered and he nodded. "He looks just like you, darling."

"I love him." Draco murmured and for the first time he dared to touch him, slowly reaching into the crib to gently caress the baby's cheek with the back of one finger. Corvus just cooed and turned his head, continuing to sleep.

"Come on, you can spend time with him later." Narcissa said, putting her hand on Draco's arm, pulling him slightly away. "Let's get you something good to eat and a bath. I had the house elves prepare your rooms for you."

Draco reluctantly let his mother pull him away, grey eyes on the crib the entire time until the doors were shut gently. He turned to his mother in the hallway, who smiled at him warmly. "Oh Draco, I'm so glad you're back. I was so afraid what would happen to you in that awful place."

"It's alright, Mother." Draco grimaced. "You knew that Father and I have been put in the less cruel part of Azkaban. I'm fine and he will be fine."

"Yes, yes, of course." Narcissa said, then started to walk towards Draco's wing of the Manor. On their way, she pointed to a door down the hallway. "Astoria stays in the room over there, close to the baby. We might have to rethink where you want to stay. Your rooms are far away from the nursery but we can discuss it over dinner." Narcissa rambled on while they walked towards Draco's rooms.

He looked back worried. "What about Corvus?"

"Oh, his house elf is constantly looking after him. He will inform us if he is awake and needs something, don't worry."

"His house elf?" Draco asked astounded.

"Oh yes. While I was on France, I had these two lovely house elves, which had been taken care of the property for us. I wasn't allowed to take any of the elves from this Manor with me to France, so I had only the two of them. You might remember them, Lune and Lueur?" Narcissa told him while they continued to walk.

He shook his head. "No, not really."

"Anyway, I felt bad to leave them behind again, so I got them here with me, especially because I thought Lueur would be a perfect nurse elf for Corvus. Astoria brought her own one but it's a rather curious one if you ask me. She was fine with Lueur looking after Corvus, though."

Draco nodded along and when they finally reach his room, he looked down at his mother, smiling. "Everything will turn out great, Mother." he promised her before he leaned down to kiss her cheek, having outgrown her quite a bit.

She smiled at him, squeezing his hand before she nodded towards the door. "Take your time. And once you are ready, dinner will be waiting for you."

"Thank you." Draco told her, then watched as she hurried down the hallway again, disappearing at the corner.

Draco breathed out, then reached over to the double door to push it opened, revealing his old rooms. He stepped in slowly, taking everything in.

Similar to the nursery, his room also had wall-length windows, overseeing the South side of the Malfoy property. He had heavy drapes as well, which could only be closed with magic and there was a fireplace and a set of leather couches and two armchairs in front of it.

His sleeping quarters was on the left, while his study was on the right side of the drawing room. His parents had their own rooms as well, a place where they could withdraw if they needed too and Draco knew that Astoria had been given a same set of rooms.

He walked over to his bedroom for now, tugging at his dress shirt, realising how much he craved his own bathroom. He kicked off his shoes and reached down to unbuckle his belt.

His bedroom wasn't a room that Draco would describe as cosy. Windows lined one side of the room again and in the middle stood a gigantic four poster bed. Two doors lead from the room, one was his wardrobe and one was the bathroom, both rooms were probably the same size as the bedroom.

Draco thought his room was practical and besides a drawer, one armchair and two bed tables, there wasn't anything else in the room.

He opened the door to the bathroom was instantly hit with fragrance of the bath perfumes and oils and the dampness of the hot bath. He sighed while he stepped out of his trousers, leaving them on the floor like a careless child.

The bathtub was at the end of the bathroom, embedded in the floor, with steps leading into the water.

Draco groaned as he walked down the steps, the hot water splashing against his calves and thighs. God, how he missed home.

He lowered himself in the bath, enjoying every second because all Azkaban offered was luke-warm showers that lasted a few minutes and that didn't even come close to what he was used to.

While he leaned back, he tried to reflect on everything that had happened and what was about to come. Draco itched to use magic, to go outside and fly, to hold his son and to see him awake, to talk to his mother all night and to finally see Astoria. So many things and yet he was already so exhausted, maybe some sleep in a real bed would be nice as well. Or just staying in this bath forever.

Reluctantly after a while Draco got out leaving a water trail behind him as he walked out of the bath and into his bedroom and to get dressed, to have dinner with his mother.

He walked into his closet, entering it to find all of his clothes impeccable, pressed and ready to Draco went through his clothes, trying to find something to wear, when he suddenly stopped, turning around to face himself in the huge mirror that was hung on one of the walls. It was wall length mirror so he could see himself from head to toe and for the first time in over a year, Draco was staring at his own reflection.

There were no mirrors in Azkaban and he might have caught his reflection on some surfaces but it was more a blur than anything else.

He let go of the satin dress shirt in his hand as it crumbled to the floor as he slowly walked over to get a closer look. It was certainly a sight, which he wouldn't forget so easily.

His hair had grown long, he knew that already but he finally saw how it reached nearly his shoulders, wild and messy. Wet strands clung to his head, dripping water down his still naked body.

He had lost weight, he had known that as well, but the actual proof, still gave Draco a different feeling as he reached up slowly, running his hands over his protruding ribs. His face was hollowed, his cheekbones too prominent and his eyes too bright because of the dark circles around them. He was even paler than normal.

He stepped closer to the mirror, examining his face even more. He reached up, running a finger over a scar on his right cheek. It was just a thin line, not visible from afar but up close, Draco could make out the silver line clearly.

His eyes traveled down, from his cheek over his neck and collarbones to his chest and stomach. He had never been especially muscular, more sleek and lean due to being a Seeker but at the moment, Draco didn't even know how to call his stature as it was probably non-existent.

His eyes followed the scars, which littered his chest and arms. A good third were a gift from Potter while the others were from an attack during the war. Draco didn't even know which kind of slicing curse left scars like this. Madame Pomfrey had tried everything but even the healing spells that normally prevented scarring, didn't help and all Draco gained was more pain from the wounds. In the end, he had told her to leave it, that he didn't care about the scars.

Now, he wasn't so sure anymore.

The biggest one ran from his right shoulder down his sternum and over the left side to his ribcage, right across the chest. The tissue was silver and risen, standing out visibly even on Draco's pale chest. Another big one crossed the first one slightly and ran over his stomach. Another one started below his navel, ran over his hipbone and down one thigh.

There were more all over his chest, on his upper arms and forearms. Even on the back of his hand, Draco could make out a fine line. Staring at his reflection he realized what a sight it must have been seeing all this wounds open and bleeding.

A flash of red made Draco stumble forwards and he put his hands flat on the mirror to catch himself, breathing in and out slowly. Closing his eyes he put his forehead on the cold surface, trying to catch his breath and pushing the images from his mind.

He stepped back then, opening his eyes to look at his reflection once more. Tracing the scars with grey eyes, hollowed and empty, he sighed, reaching up to push some wet strands out of his face.

Back in Hogwarts, Draco knew that he was quite handsome, considering his parentage, and that wasn't even the thought of someone vain and self-centered. He stared at his mirror image with critical eyes before he shook his head, sighing once more.

"Well, still not as ugly as this." he mumbled then, turning over his left arm to stare at the Dark Mark. The black tattoo hadn't even faded a little in the past year. Draco had hoped that after Voldemort's death it would start to fade but unfortunately, it was still pitch black as if it was a last laugh in all their faces. He considered from glamouring it to tattooing something over to burning it off completely. For the moment, he probably would keep it that way. Looking away, Draco focused on his hair again.

" _Accio_ wand." Draco demanded and reached out to catch his wand. Holding it between his fingers, he reached up to gather some strand of his hair and then using a cutting spell to cut them off.

Strand for strand, he cut off his hair until it fell a little below the top of his ears, with a fringe in front. Blowing the hair dry, he was more satisfied with the new look. Turning around he walked back to pick up the shirt he had dropped earlier before he started to get dressed. His clothes were too big and he had to magically adjust them to fit his leaner form better.

After finishing, he used his wand to clean the water trail he had left as well as levitating objects from one place to another just for the fun of it. He transfigured pillows and books, charmed clocks and lamps and went as far as blowing up an antique vase.

When he felt like he was done, he checked the time and saw that it was early evening already. The day had been draining as it took some time until he was able to leave Azkaban and then the whole thing at the Ministry and now the time he spend bathing and getting ready. He knew that dinner would be served soon, so Draco concentrated on his mother's wing and with an easiness, he apparated out of his drawing room and in front of Corvus's nursery.

Entering the nursery he found his son awake, the drapes were pulled back to let in the evening sun. A small elf was balancing herself on a small stool next to the cot, holding up a stuffed teddy bear while a stuffed dragon was levitating next to it, both were there to entertain the giggling baby.

When Draco stepped inside the nursery, the elf looked up and upon spotting him, she jumped from the stool to bow slightly. " _Maître_ Draco. Lueur iz 'appy to 'ave you 'ome."

"Thank you, Lueur." Draco smiled at the small elf. "How is Corvus?"

"Oh, _Maître. Il est si petit._ So small." Lueur gushed as she grabbed Draco's hand to pull him over to the cot. "Lueur just played wiz 'im." the elf climbed back on the stool while Draco smiled and stepped closer to the cot to look inside.

Corvus was awake, giggling while he was put some sort of rattle in his mouth, drooling all over it. Blue eyes looked up at Draco interested and the blond smiled, reaching into the cot to stroke the boy's chubby cheek. Instantly Corvus took hold of one of Draco's fingers with his small fist, pulling his father's hand over to stuff suck at his knuckles. " _Maître est un naturel._ Master, you iz a natural." the elf chirped next to him, taking a hold on the edge of the crib with her bony fingers to pull herself up.

"I haven't done anything yet." Draco told the small creature, who looked up at him with wide bright golden eyes that sparkled in the sunlight, which fell into the room. At least the name fit. Draco smiled. "Mother told me that you will be Corvus' personal elf."

" _Qui_ ," the elf nodded widely, ears flapping around. " _Maîtresse_ Narcissa telled Lueur to never leave _le jeune maître_ 's side. Lueur will always be zere, visible or not, to make sure zat yours son iz safe, Master."

"What about Astoria?" Draco asked. "Didn't she want her elf to take care if Corvus?"

Lueur shook her head. "No, Master. Mistress Astoria telled Lueur also to look after ze _jeune maître_."

"Oh, good, I guess" Draco nodded, looking down at his son, who was still sucking Draco's knuckles. He smiled when Corvus made happy noises, reaching up with one hand.

"Master Draco wants to 'old 'im?" Lueur asked and Draco paled slightly at the thought but he nodded again, swallowing. With the guide of the house elf, he managed to lift Corvus gently out of his cot, cradling him safely in his arms while he walked around the nursery, speaking softly to his son.

Corvus giggled, trying to reach up to touch Draco's face but he only made it to the chin and finally settled for the collar of Draco's shirt, clutching it tightly in his fist. "Hey there, little one." Draco cooed, overwhelmed by what he was currently feeling.

The past years he had lived in such a darkness, in fear and panic to do any wrong move but holding Corvus in his arms seemed to make up for everything bad he ever encountered. "Aren't you a beautiful boy?" he whispered to his son, kissing him on the temple.

"Of course you are."

* * *

As he was called upon for dinner, Draco reluctantly left Corvus in the nursery for Lueur to feed him. Apparently, Astoria was unable to breastfeed, something Draco had been told his mother had struggled with as well, so Corvus was getting bottles. Lueur had told him to go eat, then he could come back.

Draco had so many questions and he decided that he probably should do some reading, order books to catch up on all the things he had missed already.

Arriving in the dinner room, his mother senses his anxiety, asking if everything was alright.

"I've been thinking, Mother," Draco admitted. "You said something about room arrangements."

"Oh yes." Narcissa said, taking a sip from her wine glass. Draco had taken the seat to her left, closer than he ever sat but he felt that today was a day where they could forget about table manners. "I mean, I myself have been here only for a few days and I decided to stay in the same wing as Astoria and the baby to help but now that you are here. Well, I think I will move my quarters permanently into Lucius' wing. The nursery was the reason, why I moved into that wing anyway but now I won't need it anymore and you and Astoria can have it."

"Brilliant." Draco grinned. "I mean, I wouldn't hear Corvus from my room during the night unless there is a spell but apparating while being half asleep isn't exactly safe and walking would take too long," Draco rambled on and Narcissa looked up to glance at her son surprised. "You want to look after him at night?"

"Of course." the young Malfoy exclaimed astounded. "Isn't that the point of being a parent?"

"Well, yes but that's also the point of having house elves, darling. And after getting no sleep for months, you will appreciate them, trust me." Narcissa smirked while Draco shook his head at his mother's words.

"Anyway, I want to take care of Corvus. The good and the bad stuff," he stated and his mother smiled proudly.

The blond-haired wizard continued, eyes lighting up. "I just came from the nursery and it seems like he likes me. I was afraid that he would only cry when I was near."

"I'm sure you will be a wonderful father, love." Narcissa assured him, seeing how much Corvus already meant to Draco. It was a fascinated thing as she had witnessed her son going through many emotions throughout his life. As a baby, Draco wasn't easy and he grew up spoiled which made him noisy and short-tempered. If he wanted something, he got it which caused Draco to lose interest in many things too quickly. In the last few months, Narcissa had been forced to watch the pain her son was going through and it had nearly broken her.

He had only been a child and he still was a child but somehow, he had matured in the year and now he was a father even, she realised maybe her young boy wasn't so young anymore.

"I'm so glad that you are back. That we both are back." she then told him with a heavy voice.

Draco reached over to grasp her hand, looking at her intensely. "It will be okay, Mother. You will be able to visit Father and in two years he will be free, on this day, and we will have Corvus too keep us busy in these two years. Everything will turn out fine." Draco squeezed her hand and she smiled at him, hoping that he was right.

The moment was over because in the end, the Malfoys weren't that emotional and Draco let go of her hand to clear his throat. "But I still haven't seen Astoria." He then told her and Narcissa frowned.

"She hasn't left a message. Maybe she wanted to give you some time. Finally leaving Azkaban, coming home, seeing me again, seeing Corvus, taking care of yourself - I like your hair, darling - well, it all takes time and energy. Maybe she wanted to give you space first before the two of you meet." his mother suggested and Draco sighed.

"I guess. But I really like to talk to her. And I meant it when I proposed, you know."

"Oh, trust me. She knows that." Narcissa scoffed dryly. "She's been making wedding plans already. I think she has a date set for July."

"Oh." was all Draco could say to that. Becoming a father, getting married, getting out of prison, being a convicted murder, _Death Eater_ … so many things had happened in such a short time that Draco thought that he should be completely mad.

"Well, at least, she's still excited about it," he said while his mother gave him a sour look. "I should get her a ring, shouldn't I?"

Narcissa sighed, looking down at her hand. "You know, I always imagined that you would tell Lucius and me that you have found a young girl you liked enough to marry and that we would give you the Malfoy engagement ring together. This is not really how I wanted it to be."

"I know, Mother. Trust me, I know. But Astoria deserves it and I will keep my promise to her and I want a family for Corvus." Draco was determined and Narcissa smiled at him proudly. "It's the right thing to do." She agreed with him.

Then she looked down at her engagement ring. "Unfortunately, I'm not able to take the ring off. Only Lucius is able to do it here at Malfoy Manor. Looks like you have to compensate Astoria with another ring, I'm sure there is another family heirloom that she will like." Narcissa explained and Draco nodded, mentally going through the heirlooms to find one that Astoria might like.

"I'll find something." he said more to himself and continued to finish up his dinner, then pushed the plate away, looking at his mother expectantly.

"Go already." Narcissa waved her hand impatiently and Draco smiled at her brightly, jumping up to lean over to kiss her cheek before he stepped away from the dinner table, just to apparate to the other end of the Manor again.

There were still so many things he needed to see.

* * *

Darco had fallen asleep in the rocking chair next to Corvus' cot. His son was deep in slumber, his tiny thumb in his mouth. Corvus was exhausted from all the things he'd done with his father the rest of the evening, and he was in for a good sleep that night.

Lueur was laying on a thick pillow, which twice her size, in front of the cot, on the manticore fur, and she was slumbering away as well.

The small elf had shown Master Draco a few things already. How to hold Corvus, how to change his nappy and to dress him. Which toys he liked the best and what calmed him down and what made him upset. Master Draco had asked many questions and had listened carefully to what Lueur was telling him and the elf had decided that she liked the young Master and the he wasn't the spoiled boy anymore that she remembered. Normally, the house elves were there to take care of the baby's needs and Lueur had expected it to be it that way as well. Having Master Draco there with all his questions and wanting to do everything by himself had confused Lueur initially but in the end she decided that she was happy for little Corvus that his father loved him so much.

Not even Mistress Astoria had shown that much interest.

And Lueur already loved the tiny baby and not only because Mistress Narcissa had showed her the stars, which sparkled on the enchanted ceiling of the nursery, saying the Lueur was the perfect elf for little Corvus because the stars in the raven constellation sparkled as bright as Lueur's golden eyes and went perfectly with the little elf's name.

* * *

Draco woke up a few hours later, not sure what woke him up because Corvus was still sleeping peacefully in his cot. It was dark outside and it took Draco a moment to realize that here was a light coming from the open door in the hallway.

He turned his head in the rocking chair, which had been charmed to be as comfortable as possible, to see what was going on. A shadow was standing at the doorframe and Draco squinted his eyes at the figure. It took Draco a moment to realise who was standing there.

He got up quickly, shaking off the sleep as he quietly walked over to the door, trying to not wake Corvus up.

The blond girl at the door smiled up at him when he reached her, stepped out into the hallway, so Draco could follow her and close the nursery door behind them.

"Astoria," he breathed, still dazzled from sleepiness. He looked at her blinking while she grinned up at him happily before she stepped closer, throwing her arms around his neck. "Oh Draco, I can't believe you are finally home," she mumbled into his neck and Draco finally hugged her back, pressing her closer to him.

He breathed in the scent of almond blossoms. "Yes, I am."


	6. Revelation

**Welcome to a new Chapter, folks!**

 **What a monster chapter, oh my god. Exactly 11k long - I can't believe it - and I could have written so much more! I didn't want to split it up again and push the whole finding-out-thing back even more, so I decided to keep it this long and hope you guys enjoy to read such a long chapter!**

 **We will finally reach the point where Draco finds out about Corvus and I'm so excited to hear what you think about it. This chapter will cover the years between** _May 1999_ **(the day of Draco's release from Azkaban) and** _December 2000_ **(the prologue scene).**

 **I didn't want to retell everything because I think that's boring, so I added these little scenes that hopefully give you a peek into Draco and Astoria's life and their relationship. I tried to show Draco as a Dad and every scene is there to give you some kind of information, either on the Malfoys or on the other characters.**

 **Somewhere in the middle is a semi-smut scene that features Draco/Astoria. Just as a little warning :D**

 **As always, thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows! I'm posting this with 599 followers, so I'm happy to welcome all the 600-ones ;-)**

 _Disclaimer:_ ** _I don't own anything!_**

 **A big THANK YOU to all the people, who help me with this story:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **,** _throughhiseyes,_ SKDMHG **,** _Sinful824_ **!**

 **Enjoy this new chapter,  
Kia**

* * *

 **6\. REVELATION**

 _Several Places, May 1999 to December 2000_

* * *

 **Malfoy Manor, May 1999:**

"Where have you been?" Draco asked, leaning back. He frowned while he reached up to brush Astoria's blond hair out of her face and then he smiled.

She smiled back. "I thought I'll give you some time to adjust. Coming home, seeing your mother and Corvus, I just thought you'd need some time first," she stroked over his chest, straightening his shirt, which was all crinkled from sleeping in a chair. "We will have enough time now, so I didn't want to overrun you right after you came back."

"Well, I did," Draco whispered, leaning closer again. He put his hands on each side of Astoria's face, needing to bend down a little. "I had a lot of time for myself in Azkaban. Now, I'd like to have some time with someone else."

She smiled some more before she stretched her neck, meeting Draco halfway. The kiss was rather sweet and when they broke apart, Astoria giggled like she used to do in Hogwarts when they had sneaked off.

"I never got to thank you for my son," he then said, locking eyes with the young woman. She blushed at his words.

"He's beautiful, Tori," Draco added before he kissed her again.

"I know," Astoria sighed against his lips, leaning further into the kiss while she fisted his shirt now, crumpling it once more.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't there…,"

"Draco, don't," Astoria held up a hand to stop him from speaking. "I know that the situation was really complicated. With you in that place, and without being able to talk in private and be alone and all that. But in the end, it turned out exactly right," she smiled at him.

"So, let's forget about the past year and focus on the future. I can show you pictures and tell you about Corvus' progress, and it will be like you were always there," she reached up to place her hands on Draco's wrists as his hands were still on her cheeks. She squeezed them gently. "Please don't worry about what you've missed, focus on what's to come in the future."

Draco looked at her, a warm feeling spread inside him and he nodded slightly. "Yes, yes, you are right. Let's focus on the future."

He smiled again, and bent his head to reward her with another kiss.

* * *

 **London, July 1999:**

They got married in July.

It was a lavish ceremony, exactly what Astoria had wanted, held at an exclusive Wizarding hotel in London. The Malfoys had rented the entire hotel for the family and their guests for an entire week. Narcissa played the ever-gracious host and proud grandmother, while Astoria fussed over her wedding gown, which had cost Draco more than a moderate townhouse.

But he didn't care about about the cost. While he watched Astoria mingle with the guests, and his mother made sure that everything was perfect, Draco sat contently on his chair, in his dress robes, newly married with his son on his lap.

They were featured all over the newspapers - the news of their marriage, and the son Astoria had managed to keep a secret.

"Are you happy?" she had asked at some point during the evening, her arms going around Draco's neck while she smiled at him brightly. Draco turned his head to look into her blue eyes, the same eyes Corvus had, and he smiled warmly.

"Yes," he leant over to kiss her deeply and she sighed against his lips until Corvus started to protest.

Draco laughed and broke the kiss and Astoria smiled at him before she leant in again to kiss him quickly, then she leant down to kiss Corvus on top of his head. "I have to go tell the staff to bring more elf wine. Narcissa already went to order more shrimps."

And with one last kiss she was gone, twirling in her wedding gown laughing while Draco watched her with bright eyes.

"Blimey, mate. You didn't want to give us any kind of advantage, did you? I mean, there you are in prison and yet you still manage to get married and have a kid before any of us," A deep voice laughed and clapped him on the shoulder and Draco's attention was drawn from Astoria, so he could look at Theodore Nott's face.

He scoffed.

"You know Draco, Theo, he's always been the overachiever. I mean, even back in Sixth year, he just couldn't be a silent supporter, no, he actually had to go and become a Death Eater," Blaise Zabini threw his arm around Theo's shoulder, winking at Draco.

"Oh shut up!" Draco rolled his eyes while he adjusted Corvus in his arms. The two men in front of him laughed and Draco decided that they probably had a few firewhiskeys too much.

"But seriously, I still can't believe that there are two of you now, Malfoy," Theo mumbled while he bent down to make faces at Corvus, who giggled and reached out for Theo.

"He does look like you, mate," Blaise agreed, bending over Theo's shoulder to get Corvus's attention instead.

"He has Astoria's eyes," Draco said, holding Corvus up for Theo to take him. The black-haired wizard yelped in surprise but then took Corvus in his arms.

"Let's get you something to eat, huh, buddy?" Corvus gurgled approving and Theo laughed before he walked over to the buffet to find some bread for the toddler.

"How's he holding up?" Draco asked Blaise, who had pulled a chair next to Draco to sit down. The blond looked after Theo, who was still talking to Corvus animatedly.

"You mean since Pansy broke off the engagement to run off with some apparent prince in Greece? Or since he finally found his mother and little sister just to find out that his father had killed them?" Blaise asked dryly and Draco grimaced.

"Sorry," The dark-skinned wizard said, gesturing for a waiter to bring them more firewhiskey. Soon they both had a full tumbler of amber liqueur in their hands, nipping at the strong drink while watching how Theo tried to get Corvus to suck on some soft toast.

"Astoria told me about it and I invited him to the Manor to talk but he didn't want to. Corvus grew on him, though," Draco told Blaise, who sighed.

"Trust me, mate. All I do is to try to get him to talk to me. He refuses to go back to his and Pansy's house and he basically moved into my guest room," Blaise explained while taking another sip.

"Out of all of us, he always was the one, who could deal best with kids. The first-years loved him and Theo always took care of his baby sister."

Then Blaise looked up grinning. "That was of course until you started to run for Daddy-of-the-Year."

Draco rolled his eyes, finishing off his glass.

"I mean seriously, Draco. You never leave that Manor of yours. And I know Astoria is all over the place. Diagon Alley, London, Paris, Rome, New York. But all you do is sit at home to babysit," Blaise complained and Draco looked over, eyebrows raised.

"She was looking for dresses and Mother sent her everywhere," Draco defended. "Anyway, it isn't Corvus that keeps me in the house. It's been two months since I've been out and the few times I actually went out ended up being disastrous." Draco explained, recalling the two times he went to Diagon Alley, where he wasn't exactly welcome anymore.

Blaise shrugged. "People are still grieving. By letting them see this, you moving on, being a good father and husband, they'll eventually get over it and even accept that your family had been on the good side in the end."

"Yes, until Father gets released and everything starts from the beginning," Draco told the other man bitterly.

"Just ignore them," Blaise rolled his eyes.

"That's what I'm doing!" Draco finally exclaimed. "And that's why I'll stay at the Manor with my son."

Blaise groaned. "Oh, you don't get it, mate," he was about to say something more but Theo approached them again, a happy Corvus in his arms, who was busy drooling all over his piece of toast, turning it into mush.

"What are you two talking about?" Theo asked and Blaise waved him off, mumbling something about hot bridesmaids while Draco looked at his fellow Slytherins interested.

He and Theo had never been especially close. For one, Draco was more focused on Crabbe and Goyle because they didn't ask questions and Draco had always been wary of those who could challenge his status as the Slytherin prince. Theo was always the quiet one in their group, smart and intelligent and it was only later on that Draco suddenly craved to have an intelligent discussion about potions with someone because he certainly wasn't able to do that with Crabbe and Goyle. Theo's father was a proclaimed Death Eater, worse than Lucius and even as kids, nobody had liked Nott Sr. During the war, Theo never openly supported Voldemort but then, he never stood up against him either. Theo had started to date Pansy after the war because with his father dead, he had inherited the Nott estate and all the money that came with it. His mother and baby sister had been missing since the beginning of their Seventh year and Theo had been looking for them obsessively, which eventually caused Pansy to run away with someone else. It was around the same time when Draco was released that the Aurors had picked up some hints that lead them to Ireland to a secret property where they had found the bodies of several missing people, all killed by Nott Sr. Theo's mother and sister were amongst them.

Similar to Blaise, who was neutral during the war as well, their friendship started to develop later on during Sixth Year but the war had put a stop to it because trust was something Draco didn't give or get, so every interaction was purely platonic and cold. When nobody wrote to Draco while he was in prison, he had given up on them, thinking that as Slytherins they all would rather save themselves first.

It was a few weeks after he was released that Blaise had finally written to him, asking if Draco wanted to meet him and Theo for some butterbeer. To start anew, without having a constant threat breathing down their necks and with school finished and all of them free and rather sane.

Theo had been a mess and Blaise was his usual disorganised self and for the first time in his life, Draco had spent an evening with them, getting completely pissed while having real fun and feeling miserable at the same time that he decided that rekindling their friendship might be worth it. It had only been a few weeks where they started to really get to know each other, despite having grown up together. It would probably take them all a little bit longer to fully trust the other but the first steps were made and Draco liked where it was going.

Blaise became his best man and during the night of his wedding, Draco decided to make Theo the godfather of Corvus, hoping to give him at least some family back.

* * *

 **Ministry of Magic, August 1999:**

"Did you really have to bring him?" Weasley asked unsure while eying Corvus suspiciously. The boy babbled nonsense while chewing sloppily on one wing of his stuffed dragon. Draco had put him on a blanket on the ground of the meeting room in the Ministry. A barrier charm was placed on the blanket to keep Corvus inside, an invisible playpen so to say. Corvus had a good day and Draco was sure that he would be a good boy during the ten-minute meeting with Weasley but it was Weasley, who turned out to be the disturbing factor.

With a clearance distance, the redhead eyed the toddler as if it was a dangerous beast and Draco was just amused by the fact because Corvus seemed to like the other man and every time Weasley looked over, Corvus looked up as well, giggling loudly before he put both of his chubby hands in the air, dragon still dangling from his mouth by one wing.

And every time, Weasley flinched.

Draco decided that it was inappropriate to laugh out loud, besides he needed Weasley's clearance that he was still no threat to the Wizarding World, so he could go his merry way again. It was his third meeting with Weasley after his release from Azkaban. Just some random questions to answer and then Weasley would send him off again, declaring that he was fine.

Unfortunately, Narcissa needed the house elves today because she wanted to remodel some rooms in the Manor and Astoria was busy, so Draco decided to bring Corvus along to his monthly meeting with his assigned Auror. It wasn't like the meetings lasted long anyway.

"He's just a baby. He won't eat you, Weasley," Draco finally hissed after Corvus had start to blow raspberries and Weasley had slid his chair farther away.

"Well then," Weasley said, still watching the toddler with narrowed eyes. "Let's go over the questions, Malfoy."

Like in the meetings before, Weasley went through his particular catalogue of questions, which Draco truthfully answered before he gave up his wand for testing.

It was a rather pathetic interrogation, not because of Weasley, but because of the Ministry's belief that criminals apparently weren't smart enough to lie or use a different wand. Draco had sensed in the first meeting that Weasley was scoffing at his own instructions, believing himself that they were rather stupid.

But the two men followed the protocol and in the end they both signed the parchment that declared Draco a citizen of the Wizarding World that despite his former crimes was now integrating himself in the society without posing any danger.

"Alright, see you in September then," Weasley sighed, gathering all the parchments before he made a copy for Draco. Corvus suddenly let out a pitched gasp and Draco jumped up, which startled Weasley, who drew his wand in panic until he realized that it was just the toddler, who had overbalanced and couldn't get up anymore.

Draco reached into the invisible barrier to gather Corvus, who had started to hiccup from being startled, in his arms. While holding the boy to his chest with one arm, Draco drew his wand to dissolve the barrier charm and to levitate the stuffed dragon up, so Corvus could take it out of the air to hug it tightly while he buried his face in Draco's chest, obviously tired.

Draco shrunk the other toys he had placed on the blanket, as well as the blanket itself before he levitated them up, making them disappear in the pocket of his suit. Balancing a kid in one arm while doing something with the other was already complicated enough and Draco was glad to have magic, which helped him a lot. It was magic that could keep Corvus in place without fearing that he might move and magic would heat the bottle and made him ready. Draco would use magic to clean the room or levitate things back and forth without having to get them. He could accio whatever he needed right from the spot and it made the whole parenthood thing way easier.

Yet, he actually had started to respect all those poor Muggle women, who were doing the same things he did but without having magic at their disposal. That was probably truly magical, Draco had often mused.

After gathering all of Corvus' things and his own, he turned around to find Weasley still in combat mode, wand in his outstretched hand.

Draco raised just one eyebrow at him.

Weasley cleared his throat embarrassed, putting his wand away with heated cheeks while Draco watched him with an amused smile on the lips.

"Shouldn't you start to get used to children?" he asked then, making Weasley jump once more.

"I read in the Prophet last month that your sister has accepted to continue the Potter line," Draco scoffed.

The redhead frowned. "Yes, Harry proposed to Ginny at her Hogwarts graduation in the beginning of July but that doesn't mean that they will have children so soon," Weasley admitted, then his frown deepened.

"Right?"

Draco shrugged. "I didn't need to get married to have a child," he said nonchalantly and Weasley paled instantly.

Draco smirked at the reaction.

Out of smugness, Draco then attempted to give Corvus over to Weasley. "Do you want to start practicing already?"

All color drained out of Weasley's face, his freckles became dark spots while he stared at Draco in utter shock. The blond laughed then, enjoying that he was still able to rile Weasley up.

"Probably not," he muttered then, shifting Corvus in his arms, who was slumbering away in the meantime.

"See you next month."

Weasley started to catch himself as Draco was about to leave. He openly sneered. "Blimey, Malfoy. Don't ever do that again!"

Draco laughed as Weasley was holding his hand over his heart, still slightly distraught from Draco's suggestion. Then he suddenly looked at Draco with interest. "I read about your wedding as well. So, you did marry Greengrass, huh?"

Now it was Draco's turn to frown. "If this is your way to congratulate, I say you should work on it, but I'll take it and say thanks."

"It's just," Weasley ran a hand through his unruly hair. "The whole baby story seemed somehow weird."

"Apologies that my personal affairs kept you up at night, Weasley," Draco huffed, heaving Corvus in a more comfortable position. "But as you can see, I am the father and therefore Astoria and I will make it work."

"You will?" Weasley asked before realising how inappropriate the whole question was. He waved it off when Draco's look darkened.

Draco nodded down towards Corvus, whose back was turned to Weasley, faced pressed into Draco's chest. Pale blond hair, hair that matched Draco's perfectly, were spilled on Draco's black suit and when Draco inclined his head, his fringe brushed Corvus's head, showing once more that their hair was identical. He looked up with hard eyes. "I love my son and I love my wife, Weasley. There is no point in discussing this nonsense. Now, if you excuse me, some people in this room actually have important work to do."

Draco turned around sharply, leaving the room angry before Ron could even say anything. The redhead shrugged. "Still don't like her."

* * *

 **Malfoy Manor, October 1999:**

"Corvus, can you say Mummy? Say Mummy!" Astoria was currently sitting on a blanket in the garden of Malfoy Manor, Corvus was sitting in front of her and munching on a cereal snack that Draco thought tasted absolutely terrible.

A warming charm was placed around the blanket as it was already a little nippy besides it being a beautiful, sunny, autumn day.

Corvus didn't quite care what his mother wanted from him, he was more interested in Draco as he was following him with his eyes. His father was currently flying rounds over the Manor and the gardens, diving down every now and then to come closely to the ground before he pulled the broom up again, missing the impact by a whisker.

Astoria shook her head at her husband's silliness but she let him do his things, turning her focus on Corvus again to try to get him to say more words.

When Draco finally landed to fall on the blanket with a huff, Corvus laughed and clapped his hands before he crawled over to where Draco was lying on his back. "Da," he said and supported himself on Draco's chest, trying to stand up.

Draco put an arm behind his head, watching his son struggle with balance while Astoria called for a house elf to bring them some sandwiches.

"I made you an appointment at St. Mungo's," Astoria said while she raised her wand to levitate some plates and glasses out of a picnic basket, which sat next to the blanket.

Draco turned his head to look at her frowning. "Why?"

"Because, Draco, " Astoria started. "you struggle to read and I know that you often get headaches and your sight gets worse when you work too much. I know you enjoy being at home but when you start to work again, then you need to do something about this."

Draco sat up know, pulling Corvus onto his lap at the same time. The toddler giggled happily as Draco ran his hands through Corvus' fine blond hair that matched his so perfectly. "I go back to work?" the blond asked confused.

Astoria blushed. "Well, I thought that at some point you would want to take care of the family business again. I'm sure your mother would appreciate it as well."

"Yes, but it's not like we _need_ it, Tori," Draco argued. "I planned on taking over at some point before father's release but I want to spend some time with you and Corvus first."

"And that's wonderful, love," Astoria smiled. "But it's been five months now and Cor is fine and we are fine, so why not start rebuilding the Malfoy name now. There are still a lot of people, who look at us in a certain way despite of all the articles about our marriage and family, so let's prove to them that we are on the right side now."

"I guess," Draco said thinking. "I was working on something and you are right, maybe it's time to finally get out there again."

"Yes," Astoria agreed. "Let's make the Malfoy name even more successful."

* * *

 **Azkaban, November 1999:**

"And then he started to like make this O-sound and I swear that he tried to say _Draco_ but Mother said I'm ridiculous but I know that she tried to get him to say something like _Nana_ …," Draco rattled on, shoving picture after picture in Lucius' direction.

His father regarded him with an interested glance, having seen Draco the last time this excited when he was seven and finally allowed to ride his broom without supervision.

"How fascinating," Lucius drawled finally after Draco looked at him expectantly.

Pleased, his son nodded before going into the story of how Corvus had reacted when he had watched Draco fly for the first time. Followed by another story about how Corvus finally started to make animal sounds.

Lucius never appreciated more that he was in Azkaban and that Draco would need to leave after a certain time again.

The Auror, who was watching them, looked even envious as he had to spend more time with Draco and had obviously been told the same stories as well.

"But, actually, that wasn't why I came," Draco suddenly said after the Auror announced that they had only a few minutes left.

"What a surprise," Lucius said dryly but Draco ignored him.

"I decided to reopen _Malfoy Apothecaries_ and Theo will be my partner. We already created a new business plan and we are positive that we can make it quite successful again," Draco explained him excitedly and then launched into more details to which Lucius paid attention now.

After Draco was done, he nodded approving. "I like your plans, I'm sure you will do good work."

Draco smiled genuinely. "And when you come back, you can…,"

Lucius raised his hand as good as he could in shackles. "Don't get me involved, Draco. When I come home, I will spend my time with your mother and hopefully my grandson. You and young Mr. Nott can have the company and do whatever you want. I can give you some advice but I don't have any desires to work again. Merlin knows that we have enough money, so I already decided that I want to enjoy my life now and be grateful for what I still have and nearly lost."

Draco looked at his father surprised but then nodded. "Thank you, Father," he added because he knew that their conversation was finished now.

Lucius smiled slightly, only so Draco was able to spot it. "Corvus looks just like you when you were a child. Take good care of him, son."

"I will," Draco promised. "Trust me, I will."

* * *

 **Malfoy Manor, January 2000:**

"Cor, can you walk for Daddy?" Draco was currently on his knees, hair a completely mess because he had run his hand through it too often. His suit jacket laid discarded on the steps of the gigantic curved staircase in the entrance hall of the Manor while he tried to get Corvus to walk his first steps.

The eleven-month-old toddler looked at his father curiously, fist in his mouth while Draco tried to get him up again. Corvus had started to pull himself up on things now and he was already standing on his feet for a while, slowly testing this new territory that wasn't crawling.

He was currently standing next to one of Narcissa's priceless mahogany end tables, one hand was gripping the edge of the table to keep him balanced and standing while the other was in his mouth.

"Just one little step, Corvus," Draco told him. "I already showed you. Just lift one foot." the blond shuffled closer on his knees.

"Dada?" Corvus asked and Draco nodded. "Yes, Daddy. Walk to me!" Draco repeated. He was now so close that he could reach out to take a hold of Corvus but he kept his hands more to himself, wanting the boy to make at least one step.

Corvus tested the ground with one foot, edging forwards until he suddenly let go of the table and took the fist out of his mouth to spread his arms. Taking two wobbly steps towards Draco, he let himself fall and Draco caught him, lifting the boy up laughing. "Yes, you made it, Cor!"

Corvus giggled as his father laughed proudly at his achievement.

* * *

 **Leaky Cauldron, March 2000:**

To say that the silence at the table was awkward was an understatement.

It was completely and utterly uncomfortable.

The _Leaky Cauldron_ was packed with people, loud chatter and laughter rang around them but the round table in the darkest corner of the pub was deadly silent.

The five occupants eyed each other suspiciously until Blaise finally broke the silence, making the other four jump.

"This is ridiculous!" he said before he got up. "I'll get us all a round of firewhiskey."

Stalking off he left the rest behind.

Draco looked over to Theo, who looked as uncomfortable as Draco felt before he glanced over to the other two. Potter and Weasley didn't look better.

Blaise had generously invited them to their table after Potter and Weasley had arrived and walked around the pub just to see that there weren't any free tables anymore. Even the bar was full. And Potter being Potter, everyone had tried to talk to him, get him to stay at their table, offered drinks but even Draco had seen how uncomfortable the Golden Duo was. Blaise's offer had gotten them away from all the patrons and out of everyone's sight but only when they actually sat down, they realised that they were currently sitting at a table with former Slytherins.

Nobody had talked since then and they still didn't until Blaise came back with three rounds of firewhiskey.

"I planned ahead!" he defended when Draco gave him a look.

"Are they still staring?" Potter suddenly whispered to Ron and everyone at the table looked up to find that a pair of rather curious looking women were staring openly at Potter.

"Yup," Weasley answered and Potter cursed before he reached for a glass of firewhiskey.

"No offense, Potter, but I think that you won't be able to go anywhere for the rest of your life without people staring." Theo added as Blaise sat down again.

"Lucky me," Potter replied dryly before downing his glass in one go.

"Good thinking, Zabini," Potter added while reaching for his second glass.

Blaise grinned smugly over to Draco, who rolled his eyes and then checked his watch. Blaise's expression turned annoyed.

"Merlin's balls, Malfoy! You will manage one night without your child. Stop being such a bloody mother hen! You are literally worse than a woman!"

Draco frowned. "I'm just concerned. Tori normally doesn't watch him."

"Probably because she has no bloody chance against you!" Blaise huffed bothered at the same time Theo tried to reassure Draco with, "she is Cor's mother, I'm sure she's fine."

Somehow, Draco looked over to Weasley challenging, who innocently raised both of his hands, keeping his mouth shut. Potter exchanged a confused look with them.

In the end, Draco didn't say anything. He reached for a glass of firewhiskey instead. The others finally reached for their glasses as well.

Five rounds later, Potter was deep into a story about a three-headed dog, when Blaise suddenly perked up. "Hey, where is Granger by the way?"

Draco blinked. "I haven't read or seen anything about her in ages."

Potter interrupted his story to look up surprised. "She's in Australia looking for her parents. They were obliviated during the war and about a year and a half ago, Hermione went there to find them again. She hasn't found them yet and is still looking but in the meantime, she started Healer training, hoping that once she gets back, she can start at St. Mungos," Potter then explained while Weasley nodded along.

"A Healer, huh," Blaise exclaimed whistling.

"She was rather good at healing," Draco added and Weasley scoffed.

"Hermione is good at everything," The redhead stated.

"I didn't say she wasn't," Draco defended with a tight voice but Blaise interrupted them.

"So, Potter," he began. "Are you still up for Quidditch? Draco and I are playing amateur league on Sundays and the other teams are absolute shite. We could use some real competition."

Potter perked up and even Weasley stopped staring at Draco with narrowed eyes. "We actually came here to discuss if we should join that league as well." Weasley threw in. "Our schedules finally start to clear up, which gives us more time and there is already a team out there with former Gryffindors, who asked if we want to join because they still have open spots to fill."

"Oh, you should. Then it would at least be worth showing up," Blaise laughed, pushing another glass in their direction. "Cheers to that, huh!"

Potter and Weasley accepted each a glass and together with Blaise, they continued with the sixth round.

Draco just shook his head.

* * *

 **Malfoy Manor, April 2000:**

"Are you ready, Draco?" Astoria spoke in the two-way mirror and Draco looked up from where he was leaning over Corvus' cot. He ran a finger over Corvus' cheek. The boy was already slumbering away. He had just put the boy to bed while Astoria was getting ready for a ball.

"Yes," Draco answered, then nodded towards Lueur, who was waiting next to the cot, ready to take over as soon as her Master was gone to go to his party.

The blond walked out of the nursery, looking back at the cot again with a longing glance before he went into his and Astoria's quarters.

Narcissa had moved into Lucius' wing and Astoria and Draco had their own wing now, with rooms for both of them and some private rooms for Astoria alone. Draco had decided to keep his rooms at the other wing but had moved most of his stuff into the new master bedroom. Corvus' nursery was across the hall and because Draco had refused that the house elves needed to do all the work, he had placed charms on two mirrors, one was hanging in the nursery and one in the bedroom from where Draco could watch what Corvus was doing. The mirror was normally muted but Draco could unmute it if he was concerned like during the nights when Corvus was sick or teething.

Astoria found it ridiculous, saying that they both grew up with only the house elves taking care of them. And if their parents trusted the house elves fully with their children then they could do it as well. Draco was a little bit tired of explaining to her that it wasn't about trusting the house elves but about being involved in Corvus' life. He also didn't mention that despite their cold reputation, his parents also hadn't fully relied on the house elves when it came to Draco's childhood. His mother had often praised his father while getting a dreamy look in her eyes that Lucius had been a natural with Draco in his early years. Unfortunately for Draco, the memories started to darken with age and he had become generously curious to see how his father would do with Corvus.

"Draco?" Astoria repeated when Draco stepped into the bedroom. She nodded pleased when she saw that he was already dressed in his robes, which made him roll his eyes. He hated all these balls and events.

But Astoria loved them and all her friends were there and unfortunately for Draco, so were a lot of his business partners and associates. Thanks to his and Theo's efforts, _Malfoy Apothecaries_ was taking off again and after getting rid of all the dubious partners and cleaning up everything, Draco was actually proud of what they had accomplished and what would follow in the next years.

And when Astoria continued to spend money the way she currently did, then it would probably be smart to have an income again. Not that Draco cared, he would buy her anything she wanted and she knew that.

"I picked up your potion again," Astoria told him from the bathroom and Draco walked over there to lean against the doorframe. He watched how his wife put on a collier of sparkling diamonds before she searched for the matching earrings.

"Thanks." Draco said, knowing that she did it every week. A check-up at St. Mungos had shown that the nerve-damaging spell he had been hit with during the final battle was causing him to get bad eyesight. Reading glasses and a potion, which Draco had to take weekly, helped him to deal with the symptoms.

"Will Narcissa be there as well?" Astoria brought Draco back from his thoughts and he looked up to watch her put on her wedding and engagement ring, and then another diamond ring that matched the rest of the set she was already wearing.

Draco shrugged. "I don't know, probably."

Astoria frowned. "Well, we'll see once we get there."

She grabbed her purse with her wand before she turned away from the mirror to show herself to Draco, opening her arms. "How do like my dress? I got it in Rome last week."

"It's pretty," Draco said, knowing pretty sure that she had already five that looked exactly the same but he didn't further comment and Astoria just huffed before she walked past him to get her shoes.

* * *

 **Malfoy Manor, June 2000:**

"Draco," Astoria murmured against Draco's neck heavily. She was drawing circles on his naked chest with her index finger until she put her hand flat on his skin, slowly stroking it down Draco's body, letting it rest on his stomach before she let it wander further south.

Draco blinked the sleep out of his eyes, murmuring something incoherent before realising what was happening. He had spent most of the night in Corvus' nursery as the boy was sick. Lueur and he had alternately tried to calm him down, to stop him from crying but Corvus didn't stop until Draco finally decided to give him a specific calming draught for children, which finally made him tired enough to fall asleep. The house elf had promised Draco to keep watch, so her Master could go to bed.

"Tori," Draco mumbled sleepily, finally realising that it was about to be dawn outside, which meant that he hadn't even been in bed for two hours.

"Sshh…," Astoria whispered, starting to gently nibble along his neck, working her way over his jaw and towards his ear. Her hand had finally reached its destination and Draco squirmed under the blanket. There were definitely worse ways to wake up but on the other hand, continuing to sleep sounded nice as well.

His thoughts changed as he realised that his wife was pressed up against his side naked, her breasts squashed against his shoulder and she continued to kiss him while her other hand was stroking him. One foot started to sneak between his legs, rubbing against his calf and he finally decided to screw sleep.

Throwing back the blanket that covered them both, it was easy for him to grasp a giggling Astoria by the hips to pull her over his body. She let go of him abruptly because of the movement, which Draco answered with a groan. Laying on top of him, breasts pressed against his chest, she grinned cheekily, reaching up to run her hands through his matted hair.

She leant down to kiss him while her fingers dug into his ribcage on both sides now, steadying herself so she wouldn't slid off. Draco grasped her back, fingers running along her spine while her long blond hair fell around his head like a curtain.

She kissed him fiercely, nearly biting his lips raw, before she suddenly let go, righting herself as she sat up, throwing her hair back while her thighs and calves pressed against the sides of Draco's stomach. She wiggled on purpose, a gleam in her eyes before he slid her body further down.

Draco grasped her narrow hips as she placed both hands flat on his chest. It had been a few months since he was released from Azkaban and he had finally started to fill out his body again. Lacking the training that Quidditch always provided him during a school year, Draco had taken to play amateur league with Blaise once a week. He still had some way to go to make up for the years where he hadn't eaten properly, which had started in Sixth year.

Astoria grinned down at him, having been pleased with his change, as she finally connected them with a satisfied moan. Draco grasped her sides tighter, fingers digging into her flesh as he guided her movements.

It didn't take long, Draco wasn't sure if he was still too tired or if Astoria had been too eager but as she collapsed on him again, kissing the underside of his jaw pleased, he decided to not worry about it.

They got interrupted as Corvus started to cry and the mirror got activated through Lueur, who told Draco to come over as fast as possible. The young elf looked down as she spotted Astoria and Draco naked in bed. Astoria groaned but Draco ignored her, prying her off gently from him, before he jumped up and looked around for something to wear as Astoria had vanished his clothes beforehand.

A quick cleaning spell was muttered and Draco accioed some trousers, which he put on as fast as possible before he dashed out of the bedroom to go to the nursery.

Astoria groaned annoyed falling on her back, arms going up to cover her eyes while she enjoyed the coldness of the room on her naked body, letting the sweat dry. As it began to get cold though, she tugged the blanket up again. Through the mirror, she could hear Draco now talking to Lueur concerned while trying to calm a crying Corvus down at the same time. Astoria muted the mirror with the flick of her wrist before she turned around again and went back to sleep.

* * *

 **Malfoy Manor, August 2000:**

Corvus was running around in the garden, at least as fast as he could. He was still rather wobbly on his feet and fell down a few times but he found it funny and laughed before he scrambled up to run again.

Narcissa was watching her grandson from the side, sitting at a table, which was full of sandwiches and tea. She was alone at home while Draco was at work and Astoria probably out for shopping again.

"Grama!" Corvus called and Narcissa looked up, cup of tea in her hand. "Drago!" the boy gestured with his arms and the Malfoy matriarch smiled fondly as she drew her wand and conjured a train of blue sparks that formed a dragon, which she send in Corvus' direction. The dragon flew around the boy, who laughed and clapped his hands excited, trying to catch the light.

Suddenly, the dragon exploded into dozens of light sparks before they changed colour from blue to purple and then a raven appeared, his wings spread as he flew towards Corvus as well.

The toddler laughed delighted and Narcissa smiled as she watched him play with the magic.

Lucius had always used that charm to entertain Draco and she liked that Corvus was so excited by it as well. Just as excited as she was at the thought of her husband finally returning home. She was still visiting him as often as she could and she knew that Draco was as well, but of course it wasn't the same and maybe when her Lucius finally returned home, they will finally feel like a family again.

* * *

 **Diagon Alley, October 2000:**

"And then she was looking at me with her big eyes and I just couldn't say no and you won't believe…," Blaise continued and Draco only listened with one ear while they walked up the cobblestone streets.

"That's great," Draco answered absently and Blaise stopped his story to look over at his friend.

"Alright, mate, spill." the dark-skinned man looked expectantly at Draco, who looked over confused.

"What?"

"Something is bothering you," Blaise stated. "And we just spent half an hour picking out a jewellery set with a price that just screams apology. Plated in gold and emeralds."

Draco shrugged. "Astoria and I had an argument."

"About?"

The blond sighed, rubbing his face frustrated with a gloved hand. "It's just... I said that she pushes Corvus too much on the house elves instead of being there herself. She missed how he used magic for the first time last week. He levitated his stuffed animal from the cot into the rocking chair next to it and she didn't seem to care. I told her that she should be there more and then she brought up the same old story that we have house elves, so we don't need to worry and that she's busy and that I was there anyway."

"Well, you pretty much are glued to the boy's side," Blaise agreed and Draco glanced over angrily.

"Because I care!" he exclaimed. "I actually want to spend more time with Corvus and Astoria, and you know, do family stuff. But she doesn't care and I can't just leave everything to Theo at work. I don't know, I just snapped the other day."

Blaise sighed, reaching over to clap Draco on the shoulder. "It's alright, mate. I mean, the two of you didn't really choose each other because of love, right? I know that you try to make it all work and give Astoria and Corvus only the best."

"Yes, well," Draco shrugged. "I do love them. Both of them. I know that in the beginning everything was rushed and the first few months were awkward and foreign but we made it work and I still think that Astoria is the right one."

Blaise was quiet but Draco ignored it.

"Maybe it's still the whole contract thing," he suggested. "Maybe she is nervous that you would change your mind and dump her. Then she's left with nothing but a child."

"The marriage contract?" Draco asked. "I don't think so. I mean, Frédéric created a contract, which states that if Astoria proves herself worthy as a Malfoy wife within the three years after the wedding, then the marriage is final and can't be dissolved. Then she will have just as much access to the Malfoy fortune as me."

"Yes, well, maybe she's insecure about that. Narcissa isn't exactly her biggest fan and doesn't hide it and maybe she fears that once Lucius comes back, you will turn against her," Blaise theorised and Draco scoffed.

"That's ridiculous."

Blaise looked over. "Is it?"

"I mean, if the past few years hadn't happened, then my parents would have tried to arrange a marriage for me, so either way it wouldn't have been a marriage out of love. And I know that Astoria was a candidate even back then, her father had already contacted mine around Fifth Year about a possible union. And it's normal for purebloods to have marriage contracts with terms, normally those are about giving heirs but we already covered that, so I don't see the problem," Draco explained and now Blaise shrugged.

"Let's just not think about it. Give her the necklace later tonight and apologise and I'm sure she will be very grateful," he winked at the blond.

"Let's go for dinner," Draco just answered and Blaise continued to grin.

"Shouldn't we wait for Theo?"

"No," Draco shook his head. "He's in Germany to meet some potential partners."

"Oh, alright," Blaise acknowledged as they started to walk towards their favourite Wizarding restaurant. "I still can't believe that you didn't ask me to be your business partner by the way. I'm so much more of a people person than Theo."

Draco laughed. "Yeah right, nevertheless you wouldn't be a good fit in a potion firm," he told Blaise, who frowned offended.

"Yes, it wasn't my best subject but I wasn't _that_ bad."

Draco laughed even louder this time, completely amused by Blaise's words. He shook his head grinning. "Trust me when I say this, Blaise. It would be disastrous."

"Why?"

"Because you can't even tell apart chives and basil, mate."

* * *

 **Malfoy Manor, December 2000:**

When Draco came home from work, he was exhausted. And it wasn't even evening yet.

He and Theo had worked the night before and this morning. Without a break and without leaving the office. All Draco wanted was to find a bed and lay down.

He flood back home from his office in Diagon Alley. _Malfoy Apothecaries_ had its headquarters further up the street, a little away from the smaller shops, in the streets where other big companies had their offices. The Daily Prophet had its editorial offices across from Draco's building and the one building next to him was owned by the one Weasley twin, who used it to produce his products there.

Arriving at Malfoy Manor was always a good feeling and with his mother's renovating and remodeling, the place looked so much better and brighter, so that Draco was finally proud to call it a home.

He walked out of the floo room, his robe draped over one arm while he pulled at his tie to loosen it a little bit. Giggling that came from the entrance hall made him stop and he looked up, changing his direction.

Today was a day where everyone was gone from the Manor. Narcissa was in France to look after their property there and Astoria was out with her had been working, which meant that Corvus was in the company of the house elves for the whole day.

Normally, Draco tried to take over once he was home but now he felt so exhausted that he decided that Lueur could look after Corvus a little longer.

Maybe after a nap, Draco could take over again.

The giggling grew louder and it was definitely his son and when Draco entered the entrance hall, he surely found Corvus sitting there on his baby blanket, smirking mischievously.

"Dada!" he called when he spotted Draco.

"Where's Lueur, Cor?" the blond asked while walking closer to the toddler, who looked up at his father with big blue eyes.

"Lu?" the boy giggled and Draco smiled before he knelt down to run a hand through Corvus's blond hair. Then he kissed the top of his head.

"Yes, Lu. Where's Lu?"

"Da!" the boy pointed into the air and Draco frowned but looked up as well. There was nothing on the ceiling and the room was empty as well.

"Hello? Lueur? Lune? Anyone?" the young Malfoy called for his house elves but none of them appeared to his call and slowly Draco started to worry.

If no house elf was there then who had been looking after Corvus?

"Cor, where's Lu?" he looked down at his son again, who looked now sheepishly as if he knew exactly that he had done something wrong.

Draco narrowed his eyes.

He got up again to walk over to the curved staircase that led upstairs to put his robe down on the steps, pulling his wand out while doing it. With a flick of his wrist, Draco waved the wand around the entrance hall of Malfoy Manor.

" _Revelio_."

The spell was meant for the whole room, and soon Draco could see the shimmer of a glamour in the air and then it was lifted and with wide eyes, the young wizard stared at the stunned house elves, who were floating around the room.

"Corvus!" he hissed and looked down at his son, who sat on his green blanket, looking down ashamed while fiddling his hands in his lap.

Draco lifted his arm, deciding that he should help the elves first before he would take on Corvus when something caught his eye.

It was his son and when the magic around him shimmered, Draco thought Corvus was doing magic again at first but then he realized that it was the magic of the _Revelio_ that was doing something to him.

And then Draco realised what was happening.

Draco stared at his son in utter shock. There was literally no way to describe what he was feeling while he watched his apparent flesh and blood change before his eyes.

The fine blond hair first turned thicker and then started to curl; the white-blond was darkening, first becoming a dark blond, then brown, until it settled at a dark brown. The toddler reached up giggling, tugging with his hands at the dark brown curls that spilled now all over his head.

Draco saw how his son lost his paleness; a darker skin tone settled, matching his dark hair.

His baby blue eyes, eyes that matched Astoria's perfectly, turned first light, then dark, changing their shade from blue to grey.

His son still giggled, now rolling around on his Slytherin-green baby blanket, which Narcissa had gifted her precious grandson.

"Daddy!" he called, wanting his father to play with him, obviously having forgotten that he was supposed to be in trouble for stunning the house elves, but Draco still stood frozen on the spot, his wand clutched so tightly in his hands that it was a wonder that it didn't snap.

"Come, Daddy." his son had now gotten up and carefully walked over to where Draco was standing. When he reached him he latched on Draco's trousers, tugging at them to get his father's attention.

Father.

Draco stared at the child in front of him, the boy he thought had his blond hair and his mother's blue eyes. But now he looked so different and, yet when Draco finally managed to look down to meet his son's eyes, his own eyes looked back at him. Slate grey, distinguished Malfoy.

His brown curls bounced as he still tugged with his tiny hand at Draco's trousers, giggling happily when Draco smiled back. He crouched down grabbing the boy at the middle to pull him between his open knees. Long fingers ran through dark curls, the hair was soft and silky and Draco frowned at how different it felt to the hair his son had before.

"Daddy!" the boy reached up to pat Draco's cheeks excitingly, grey eyes sparkling and matching and Draco breathed out somewhat relieved. He could see his own features in the boy's face.

"Cor, what in Merlin's name," Draco frowned then, raising his wand. " _Finite."_

Corvus just looked up at him with grey eyes instead of blue. Dark curls not changing.

" _Finite Incantatem. Specialis revelio. Finite. Finite. Finite_!" Draco grew frustrated as Corvus stayed the same, now having grown quiet as his father cast one spell after another.

"No, Daddy! No!" Corvus started to cry and Draco sighed, pulling the boy closer in his arms, letting his wand drop to the floor with a clatter.

"It's ok," Draco murmured into Corvus' new hair that felt so different against his cheek. He tried to calm the toddler down, who was now clutching Draco's shirt shaking. Draco fell back from his crouched down position, landing on the floor with a huff when Corvus started to crawl into his lap, hands going around Draco's neck as he buried his wet face against his father's shoulder.

Draco rubbed the boy's back, trying to soothe him down.

Then he finally looked up to the house elves, who were still floating around the high ceiling. Any other day, he would have been so impressed by Corvus' ability to stun them all and then even glamour them to hide his tracks but today was definitely not the day.

He found Lueur and wandlessly ended Corvus' magic on her.

The small elf dropped to the floor in a heap, scrambling up, then crying, and then yelped as she saw Corvus in Draco's arms. "Oh, Master Draco, Master, _Maître_. No no no no, Lueur failed yous. Bad Lueur, _mauvais elfe. Mal!_ Let Lueur fix it. Ze _jeune maître,_." the small elf was crying and shouting and it made Corvus cling to Draco harder and for a moment, the young father was slightly overwhelmed.

He raised his hand and Lueur stopped talking, looking up at Draco with wide, golden eyes, tears spilling all over her face.

"Lu, what are you talking about?" Draco finally wrenched out. "Why did you fail me?"

"Ze task, Master! Lueur had ze one task and she failed," the elf cried.

"What task?"

"Ze young master's 'air and 'eyes. Mistress Astoria telled Lueur that Lueur's most important task is to make sure that ze young master always looked like he is supposed to."

"Mistress Astoria did what?" Draco hissed and clutched Corvus closer to him. Out of exhaustion, he had fallen asleep against Draco's chest.

"Ze Mistress telled Lueur to never leave ze young master's side. And Lueur never did, Master Draco needs to believe Lueur," Lueur pulled at her ears and Draco sighed. He reached out to try to make her stop.

"I believe you, Lueur. I do and please calm down. I'm not mad," Draco said with a calm voice and new tears spilled out of Lueur's eyes.

"Master Draco won't send young Corvus away?" the small elf asked, clutching the end of Draco's trousers.

"No, of course not," the blond frowned, then he sighed and rubbed hand over his face exhausted. "Now, explain to me what's the meaning of this. And I want to know _everything_!"

Lueur nodded promising. "When Mistress Narcissa returned to zis home, Lueur and Lune were allowed to come wiz 'er. Lueur was telled before that she will take care of ze young Master Corvus from now on. And when we comed here, Mistress Astoria showed Lueur everything she needed to do for ze young Master. Mistress Astoria telled Lueur that ze most important task was that ze young Master had blond 'air and blue eyes and ze pale skin. Lueur needed to always be zere with young Corvus to make sure that ze magic stayed in place. Because Mistress Astoria telled Lueur that if yous or Mistress Narcissa ever found out, then yous wouldn't love 'im anymore and send 'im away. But Lueur loves _le jeune maître_ and she always makes sure that ze magic was zere until today when she was not able to move. And then yous saw it," Lueur started to cry again, big tears spilling from the golden eyes as she sneezed in the customized pillowcase she was wearing.

Draco leant forward to pat the elf awkwardly on the head. "It's alright. I won't punish you and I won't send Corvus away."

"Oh _merci_. Zank you!" Lueur hugged Draco's shoe tightly.

Draco finally picked up his wand, then he cast another _finite_ towards all the other elves, who were finally able to move again, catching themselves before they hit the floor. They started to gather around Lueur. Draco noticed that every Malfoy house elf was there except Astoria's personal elf. She had probably taken the elf with her to her shopping tour.

"Who else was told to do something?" Draco asked but besides Lueur, the other elves denied and Draco sighed, sending them off to do their tasks again. "And don't tell anyone about what happened in this room. Not my mother nor Astoria. That's an order!" Draco added and they all nodded before disapparating again.

Only him and Lueur were left now.

"So, you were told to never leave Corvus' side and always make sure that the glamour or whatever stayed on when I was with him?" Draco asked again and Lueur nodded, her bony hands still around Draco's shoe as Draco was still sitting on the stone floor, Corvus sleeping against his chest.

"Yous and Mistress Narcissa," Lueur confirmed.

"And Astoria told you to keep Corvus blond, pale and blue eyed because otherwise I wouldn't love him and sent him away?"

Lueur nodded, ears flapping around while she squeezed Draco's polished black shoe.

Dread settle inside of Draco and he paled slightly, which made Lueur look up alarmed. Tears pooled in her eyes again.

"And you never left his side since Mother brought you here and assigned you as Corvus' personal elf?" Draco added and Lueur now proudly put her chest out.

"Never, Master."

"And Astoria told you to do this all?"

"Yes, Master."

Draco clutched Corvus' small frame against him, fear started to finally creep up on him, all kind of scenarios rushed through his mind why Astoria would do something like that.

Again, the most obvious would be that Corvus wasn't Draco's son and that the different hair and eye color would give exactly that away. Then, it would be obvious that Draco could stop loving him.

Pain shot through him at that thought.

But Frédéric had tested him after his birth. And there were charms on Malfoy Manor that could have been dangerous if Corvus hadn't been a Malfoy. But the magic of the Manor had expected him, had even changed the ceiling of the nursery to display his constellation. If Corvus didn't have Malfoy blood in him, then that wouldn't have happened automatically.

But if Corvus _was_ his son, then why make such a big deal out of his hair and eyes? Draco didn't care what hair color his son had. Unless it was red, then he might reconsider this statement but even then - Draco groaned frustrated.

It was one thing to find out that his son had been put under a transformation charm but honestly the first thing that came to Draco's mind was that he wasn't the boy's father and that Astoria had lied to him. But the boy still looked so much like Draco, making the paternity absolutely clear.

And in the end, Corvus _had_ his eyes, hadn't he? So why cover up that he had Draco's eyes? Eyes that even Lucius had? It was something so typically Malfoy that Draco didn't quite understand why Astoria wanted to cover up something like that.

Corvus had Draco's eyes and not Astoria's, so what?

 _Not Astoria's._

The thought hit Draco like a bludger.

Corvus looked like him but suddenly not like Astoria anymore, and so it was the maternity that Draco had to question. And therefore, Astoria's whole story about carrying his child.

Because if it wasn't true, then it meant that Astoria had not only managed to become his wife by telling him she was pregnant with his baby - if she ever was - but also to give him a baby that was so obviously his but most definitely not hers.

But whom had she taken him away from? Who was the real mother of his son?

"Lueur, do you know why Astoria wanted to keep Corvus' looks a secret? She is the mother…," Draco started to panic. "... isn't she?"

Lueur grew nervous. "Lueur doesn't know, Master. She wasn't zere for ze birth, only Misty, Mistress Astoria's elf, but Lueur doesn't like her. Misty is a mean elf."

"Alright. Well, let's just," Draco looked down at Lueur with wide eyes. "Nobody can know of this, alright? I'm ordering you to keep this secret."

The elf nodded dutifully and Draco knew that his order was weighing more because Lueur was a Malfoy house elf, so his word stood over Astoria's any day. He normally didn't like to give orders anymore and tried to avoid it but this was different.

"I need you to continue to make sure that Cor looks like before, alright? Nobody can know!" Draco added and Lueur looked up, then she snapped her fingers once and Draco glanced down to see how Corvus' hair started to get lighter again, then the curls straightened and got thinner. The charm was in place again, something that was much stronger than a glamour but Draco would take a look at it later.

Draco cuddled the sleeping boy closer, kissing his head as she closed his eyes to rest his cheek against the top of Corvus' head exhausted.

His emotions were a mess and the young wizard didn't know what to do as he continued to cradle his supposed son on the floor in the entrance hall of Malfoy Manor, desperate to know what the hell he had just found out.

What should he do first? Who should he talk to?

Draco didn't know and all he wanted was to go to his bed, take Corvus with him and sleep while holding his son, pretending that everything was just a big misunderstanding and that everything was fine.

Astoria hadn't secretly changed Corvus' looks and Draco didn't have this foretelling feeling in his gut that something was terribly wrong.

Everything was fine, he told himself over and over again while stroking Corvus' fine white-blond hair.

 _Everything was fine._

But after a few minutes, Draco had to stop what he was doing. He sighed because in the end, not even he could believe it anymore.

He needed proof, Draco finally decided. Proof about Corvus and the best way to achieve that was with another blood test.


	7. Doubt

**Happy New Year!**

 **Sorry for the long wait but Christmas and New Year kept me busy in December. But here we are :D**

 **I'm not quite sure how this turned out, capturing all the emotions that go through Draco at such a moment is hard. I always feel like I forgot to mention an important thought or something like that. Oh well...**

 **As always, thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows! I'm happy to welcome all the new readers, who found this story and decide to follow it!**

 _Disclaimer:_ ** _I don't own anything!_**

 **A big THANK YOU to all the people, who help me with this story:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **,** _throughhiseyes,_ SKDMHG **,** _Sinful824_ **!**

 **Enjoy this new chapter,  
Kia**

* * *

 **7\. DOUBT**

 _Malfoy Manor, December 2000_

* * *

Draco didn't know what to do.

He was still in the entrance hall of Malfoy Manor, sitting on the curved staircase with his head in his hands. His shirt was rumpled, his robe laid in a pile next to him on the steps. His hair was a mess from running his hands through it and his tie hung loose around his neck, after he had frantically tugged it open because he couldn't breath anymore.

He didn't know how long he was sitting there but it was dark outside and Lueur had brought Corvus back to his room what seemed ages ago.

The boy had probably finished his nap and had eaten dinner and was now about to slumber away, probably wondering why his father hadn't come to say goodnight yet. Because Draco always did that.

But Draco just couldn't get up from where he had sat down hours ago.

He let the house elves take care of everything and it was unbearable to think about what had happened this afternoon.

He didn't want to think, he knew that much. He wanted it to stop. He groaned while clutching his head, tugging at the short hairs above his ears until it hurt.

"Master?"

Draco looked up to see that Lune had appeared in front of him. He was the othe other elf that his mother had brought from the French estate with her to Malfoy Manor. The elf was a little bigger than Lueur and had big light grey eyes that in fact did remind Draco of the moon. Unlike Lueur, he was way graver with impeccable behaviour.

"Master want to eat something?" Lune asked but Draco shook his head.

"No, I don't feel like eating."

"As Master wishes," The elf bowed and then vanished.

Draco stared at the empty space with glassy eyes and he didn't even have the energy to react. Because he actually was hungry and should eat something but he just couldn't.

When he was finally able to move, he did the first thing he could think of and he wasn't even sorry for it - he wrote his mother to come home because he needed her.

As he was sitting in his study, having apparated straight from the staircase into his chair, he had suddenly the urge to go to Azkaban to speak with his father. He sent the letter to his mother and was now gazing into space.

He had spent the past hours trying to understand what was going on, that the whole thing was a joke or prank, a nightmare even, but he never was able to convince himself. Maybe someone could knock some sense into him.

Then he had wanted to go see Corvus again to see if he had just imagined it but he couldn't face the boy and breaking his daily routine of saying goodnight to him, hurt Draco even more and he had never felt more miserable in his life.

Voldemort, killing Dumbledore, being a Death Eater, prison - it all felt so less unimportant in contrast of upsetting his son because he didn't read him that bedtime story or played for a few minutes with him or didn't kiss him goodnight.

So Draco kept sitting in the entrance hall, feeling more miserable with every second that passed. And now he was sitting in his study the same way he had just sat on the steps in the entrance hall and it hadn't gotten better.

Lune had appeared again after Draco sat for some time at his desk. This time, the elf had a plate with him that he placed before Draco.

Automatically eating the sandwiches, Draco didn't really question it. He conjured a glass of firewhiskey but even the liquor couldn't get him out of his trance-like condition.

The thing that finally brought him back and cleared his mind instantly was the thought that Astoria would come home soon. Checking the time, Draco saw that it was a little past midnight and his wife normally came home around this time from dinner with her friends, which she normally attended after a shopping day like today.

He started to panic again, reaching up for his tie only to find it gone. He must have lost it somewhere, which was weird considering he didn't really move in the past hours. Going for his hair instead, Draco buried his fingers in the white blond hair, tugging at it frustrated.

He wouldn't be able to face Astoria in a state like this, with thoughts like this.

He debated if he should directly question her but then he decided against it. His initial thought about making another test came back to his mind and in the end, he was determined that he should probably start with that. He needed to start somewhere.

Clearing his mind and his emotions, something Draco was able to do thanks to his occlumency skills, he started to calm down. It was a skill he was proud of, one that he was even able to obtain while attending Death Eater meetings. He had only broken it that one time when Granger was nearly killed in this house, just for one second he had slipped and the emotions he had kept away had nearly crushed him.

It was a moment that still haunted him to this day.

That moment he had been forced to feel it all, everything that he had locked away and it had been too much to handle and it was one of the reasons why Draco had to relive the scene of Granger bleeding in his drawing room over and over again in his dreams. During the showdown on the astronomy tower and the final battle, Draco had his emotions shielded away. His mind had been clear and calm but during that one moment with Granger where he had been caught off guard, his walls had crumbled and his memories had apparently latched onto all the emotions he had felt in that moment that it was the worst memory Draco had of the war.

He had not been able to sleep at all for a month after the war had been over.

Laying in his bed in Azkaban, wide awake, had been torture and only as the days passed and Draco had eased himself into being himself again, it had gotten better.

Locking away his emotion always helped Draco to keep a clear mind and get work done.

Determined, he got up from his chair, then apparated to the entrance hall again to retrieve his robe from the steps. Putting it on, he walked towards the huge doors, which opened as he stepped closer.

Walking outside into the night, Draco finally felt like he had a purpose.

* * *

The ground was frozen beneath his feet.

The bushes around him were already frost-covered as Draco walked past them. Shining silver in the moonlight, Draco continued to walk towards the treeline that surrounded Malfoy Manor. He walked west, away from the gardens and the open fields on the south side. The trees and hills were closer on the east and west side and opened up into what seemed to be an endless property.

Malfoy Manor stood in what looked from above like a giant clearing. A road lead from the manor to a gate and then through the trees to a Muggle village that was a good distance away. In the back of the Manor, on the southside, the gardens extended over an area that was too big to even cover it by foot. Another treeline appeared but it was a rather thin one. Behind it, more fields and isles of trees expanded the property.

Draco continued into the trees as he finally reached them, leaving the Manor behind.

Only the Lumos of his wand showed him the way he already knew by heart.

There were countless of animals housing in the woods and fields of Malfoy Manor, some of them magical and some not. There even was a lake west of the Manor to which Draco liked to fly to in the summer to go swimming.

But Draco was aiming for another clearing, one that he normally apparated to because the walk was quite exhausting but on this day, Draco decided that he probably needed the fresh air.

It was a cold night, the air was freezing and Draco could see his breath as he continued to walk through the undergrowth and towards his destination. He heard faint noises from the darkness of the forest but he didn't pay them any attention.

He had no idea of the time, this whole day was just one big blur and he was sure that it must be the middle of the night already. He didn't cast a tempus charm to check on it but just continued to walk.

The coldness had seeped through his clothes and he was freezing when the trees finally grew lighter and he saw the moonlight again in the distance. Entering the clearing, he looked up up the sky.

It was a starless night.

The clearing was manageable, one of many that could be found on the property but the one thing that stood out was the giant oak tree in its center. It was bald but its shadow in the night was still an impressive sight.

Draco walked past it and towards a small shed that stood in front of the trees, at the other end of the clearing.

It wasn't big from the outside, just what you expect from a wooden tool shed in any garden but when Draco came closer and unlocked the door with a spell, the lights turned on in the inside and shone out of the windows.

Draco entered, and the door fell shut behind him, keeping out the coldness and darkness of the winter night.

Inside, the shed was about the size of a four-storey house.

Locking the door again with a spell Draco created, Draco turned his back to the door and pulled his frosty robe off to hang it over a chair.

Candles had been lit all over the place, making it look warm and comfy in the flickering light. The ground area of the shed was furnished with couches and chairs, which stood in a circle around a firepit, which was embedded in the floor and whose fire was magically controlled to give light and warmth without being dangerous. An open arch led toward a kitchen, where Draco now magically heated some water to make himself tea. On the opposite end was a door that led to a small bedroom and a bathroom.

A curved staircase and ladder led up to a gallery and three other levels, which were all used for different things. The curved staircase led to the first level where Draco had a fully equipped library with desks and sitting area to do research. Then, a spiral staircase led up to the potions lab, fully equipped with the best kit money could buy. From there, a ladder led up to what Draco called the attic, a place where he kept random stuff, some of his old brooms, and Quidditch equipment and some garden tools he needed to collect potion ingredients.

The high ceiling was see-through and Draco was able to see it from the ground level while looking up. Railings and balconies stood out but the whole inside of the shed was open.

When the water whistled, Draco was pulled from his thoughts and he walked over to the kitchen area to make his tea. His parents had given him the shed for his 5th birthday, it was supposed to be a place for his brooms but Draco had expanded it over the years, first with the help of his mother, then the house elves until he was able to customize it himself. Over the years, he had enlarged the inside, then added the storeys.

It was a place he liked to go when he needed to get out of the Manor.

In the past months, Draco had started to update the library as well as the potion lab because he liked the idea of the lab being away in a safe distance from the Manor and therefore away from Corvus.

The shed was locked with a specific spell and this way Draco could make sure that some of the dangerous potion ingredients are out of reach and locked away. Plus, he had a place where no one would disturb him.

It wasn't much, definitely not in the eyes of Malfoy standard, but right now the shed looked like a bloody sanctuary.

The young father poured himself a cup of tea before he walked upstairs to go through the books to find the ones that would help him with his task.

* * *

Draco thanked the paranoia of Purebloods sevenfold when he finally found a book that offered him a detailed potion on proving the maternity of a child.

A paternity potion was something that had been taught to Draco at a young age already and finding that one was completely unnecessary but finding one that proved maternity was a rather unique quest. Fortunately for him, his ancestors made sure to be prepared for any possible obstacle and after a while, he had found a potion recipe in an old manuscript.

Preparing the potion was easy and while both potions were simmering in their cauldrons, Draco thought about how he was able to get some of Astoria's blood.

His own and Corvus' wasn't a problem and he thought about asking one of the elves but then decided against it because he wanted to do it himself, so he knew that it really came from Astoria.

He couldn't bare another deception.

After ditching the tea in favour of strong elf wine, it took some courage for Draco to finally apparate back into the Manor. It was early morning now, dawn had started and Draco tried to be careful when he entered his chambers and walked towards the master bedroom.

Draco found Astoria out cold, still dressed in an expensive designer dress as she laid on top of their bed sleeping heavily. Looked like she had been out partying with her friends instead of having only dinner with them.

The blond stepped closer to the bed, wand clutched in his hand while he watched his wife with narrowed eyes. Keep the emotions out, he told himself as she stared at her sleeping form.

A quick spell and Draco had a phial full of Astoria's red blood and then he left the bedroom as fast as he could again. Just because standing there and watching her was too much.

But standing in front of the closed door of the nursery was even worse.

He remembered that he had missed Corvus' bedtime yesterday and discomfort settled in his stomach. Closing his eyes and breathing in quickly, he gathered some lost courage and then entered the nursery quietly.

Lueur woke up startled and began to panic as Draco entered suddenly. She remembered her task and her fingers were about to snap but then she remembered that her Master already knew, so she looked over at him with wide eyes.

Draco gave her a tight smile, nodding when he walked over to the cot to see that Corvus was still sleeping. The glamour was gone again and Draco stared at the curly brown hair with a frown.

It was still a foreign sight to see.

Draco raised his wand and pulled out an empty phial, which slowly filled itself with red liquid.

Lueur gasped next to him, then she scrambled over to get on her tiptoes, so she was able to peek into the cot. Corvus just continued to sleep. Draco put the phial away before he pulled another one out.

"Put the glamour on, Lu." He demanded and the small elf complied, snapping her fingers.

Corvus slept through that magic as well and Draco guessed that after nearly two years of going through it, he had probably accustomed himself to the magic. He waited until the hair was blond again before he filled the second phial, just to be sure that the glamour didn't tamper with the results.

Nodding towards Lueur a last time, Draco apparated out of the nursery and into his work shed again.

The potions were nearly ready and the blond prepared the phials next to them. He drew some of his own blood to put in in a fourth phial before he divided both potions, so he had four cauldrons in the end.

Two were with the paternity potion and he put his blood in each of them while he did the same with Astoria's blood for the maternity potion.

He stepped back for a moment, observing the four cauldrons and breathing in deeply and slowly.

This was it.

Soon he would find out if this was all a big misunderstanding. A joke, a prank.

He couldn't imagine how his life would shatter into pieces once his assumptions were right.

And what would he do then?

Draco wished he had called someone sooner. His mother would probably arrive in a few hours, but he could have called Blaise or Theo or anyone, really.

Biting his lip bloody, Draco paced back and forth in front of the potions. Now or never.

He stepped closer to the table, reaching for the two phials that contained Corvus' blood, one was when he wore the glamour and one was without it.

He turned towards the paternity potions first and slowly but confidently poured half of the blood from both phials into the two cauldrons.

Both instantly turned blue.

Positive.

A heavy load dropped off his shoulders, one that he hadn't realised was there, and for a the first time in the past hours, Draco felt happy. This proved that no matter what, one thing actually was true. Namely, that he definitely was Corvus' father.

Malfoy blood.

Draco smiled genuinely and the bad feeling that he had been attached to a child that wasn't even his was gone. He did feel guilty after that thought though, considering that Corvus would have deserved his love anyway but it was a voice inside of Draco that even when he told himself that it should have been okay if the child wasn't his, told him that he was selfish. Selfish because Draco wanted Corvus to be his.

Biologically.

But that was another cup of tea and there had been too many today already, that Draco had to push it back. The focus was on Astoria and Corvus and on the fact if she had lied to him or not.

His glance wandered to the two other haunting cauldrons and Draco started to lose his confidence now, his hands were shaking as she raised the phials once more, this time to pour them into the maternity potion.

Nothing happened.

Then they started to boil for a second before they turned a gooey black.

Negative.

Draco didn't know what he was feeling as he stared down at the cauldrons. Sadness, grief, anger, confusion.

How? Was probably the most important question.

How was Corvus his child but not Astoria's?

Did he do the potion right? He frantically went through the manuscript again. Maybe he did it wrong? Or maybe the potion didn't work. Maybe it was only in theory but nobody had ever used it. Normally there was no need, obviously.

He felt like he wanted to blow something up. Or set fire to something.

Anything!

He ended up punching the wall with all strength he could come up with, then wiping the cauldrons off the table, together with all the ingredients. Glass jars broke and wood splintered, together with the bones of Draco's knuckles.

The pain kept him in reality slightly, at least enough that he didn't apparate back into the Manor to scream at Astoria or do worse in order for her to tell him the truth.

He sank on the floor, hot tears burning in his eyes while he clutched his bloody hand with the other. The emotions he tried to lock away swamped over him violently. The one leading - betrayal.

He felt betrayed and used and like the biggest idiot on earth. All his life he had been deceived and pitied, laughed upon, controlled and pushed around and Astoria had been the one that finally made him feel good. She was the one that made him proud because she was this beautiful woman, who wanted to be his wife and she gave him a son and for the first time, Draco felt like he finally had control over his life.

The feeling had been destroyed seconds ago.

It was a lie.

Everything was just a bloody lie.

Wiping away some stray tears, Draco scrambled for his wand. He cleaned and healed his hand as well as he could before he stood up from where he was sitting so pathetically on the floor.

Determined, he apparated back to the manor.

Not to his bedroom because he couldn't deal with Astoria yet. He stood in front of the nursery and when he entered, Corvus was still asleep in his cot. Lueur was watching him and Draco could feel the magic tingling in the room.

The elf looked at him apologetically.

Draco stepped closer and Corvus was blond and blue-eyed and something broke in Draco.

"Can you tell Astoria when she wakes up that Corvus and I are gone visiting a.. uhm... friend? I doubt she asks but in case she wakes up from her drunken state and wonders."

"Of course, Master," Lueur nodded and Draco smiled down at her before he reached into the cot to take Corvus out.

* * *

Someone kept ringing the doorbell.

"Bloody hell," the redhead mumbled while he shuffled to the door yawning. "Bloody hell."

It wasn't even light outside, only dawning and who in Merlin's name wanted something from him at this hour?

"What?" Ron barked finally as he threw the door of his apartment open. He stared with mouth agape at his visitor.

In front of his door stood Draco Malfoy with a bundle of blankets in his arms. The blond looked absolutely shite.

"Oh good, you are awake," Draco said and then ignored Ron's baffled look.

"Actually I wasn't," Ron started, yawning again but Draco pushed his way into the apartment before Ron could say anything else.

"I want to hire you, Weasley!" Draco continued and adjusted the bundle in his hands. Ron spotted now the tousled hair of Draco's child in there. A small, covered foot, the boy was probably in a onesie, was dangling out as well.

"Hire me?" Ron asked confused, not even caring that he was only standing there in boxers, hair a mess while he blinked every other second because he was so sleepy. "What are you talking about?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "You are an Auror. And I want to hire you."

"I'm not a bloody handyman." Ron protested, rubbing his eyes. "What for even?" he then asked and Draco smiled pleased.

"I need you to investigate my wife."


	8. Investigation

**Hello, everyone!**

 **So many thanks for all your responses to the last chapter! I'm so happy that we finally reached that main plot after such a long introduction (30k what the hell?!).**

 **I honestly just wanted to write it for myself and never would have thought that so many would like it as well!**

 **As I said in the first post, I love Ron, and I'm sooo glad that I get so many positive reactions towards the Draco/Ron „friendship"! It makes me so happy because it's quite hard to find a story where Ron isn't the „drunk, abusive Ex"!**

 **You will have your share of Ron in this chapter and I just love to write him :D**

 **Hope you enjoy this one! And I apologise already!**

 **As always, thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows! I'm happy to welcome all the new readers, who found this story and decide to follow it!**

 _Disclaimer:_ ** _I don't own anything!_**

 **A big THANK YOU to all the people, who help me with this story:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **,** _throughhiseyes,_ SKDMHG **,** _Sinful824_ **!**

 **Enjoy this new chapter,  
Kia**

* * *

 **8\. INVESTIGATION**

 _Ron's Apartment, December 2000_

* * *

"You want me to what?"

"Investigate my wife, Weasley! Don't be daft!" Draco repeated annoyed, stepping further into the apartment.

Ron followed him confused, scratching his chest absently, still half asleep. He blinked at the blond, who was now eyeing his apartment with a critical eye.

Being the Slytherin he was, Draco knew that a snide remark about Ron's home wouldn't earn him any points, so he kept his expression neutral and didn't say anything about the ragtag furniture.

The truth was that the apartment wasn't as bad as Draco had imagined. Weasley, as well as Potter and Granger and a few others, had been given an award by the Ministry after being named war heroes. It looked like the redhead had used some of it to buy himself a rather nice apartment, and Draco recalled that he had also become partners with his twin brother. Besides him being an Auror, obviously.

The entrance door led directly into a generous, open two-floor living room. The right side of the apartment was entirely made out of glass with a view over the rooftops of London. On the left side of the room, a spiral staircase led upstairs to a gallery and to what looked like more rooms. In the back, the living area opened straight to a dining area with an open kitchen in the corner beneath the gallery. A hallway beneath the gallery led away from the living room and deeper into the apartment.

Besides the modern architecture, Weasley somehow managed to make it looked like well… _Weasley_. The dining room chairs didn't match; there was some hideous rug beneath the table, and the kitchen looked rather messy. The living room had two mismatched couches, one a deep maroon and one that reminded Draco of mustard. Two black armchairs stood next to them with a big, square, wooden coffee table in the middle.

Draco spotted orange _Chudley Cannons_ posters and flags in the dining room and random pictures along the wall next to the branching-off hallway. A huge self-knitted Gryffindor blanket laid on one of the couches, and for the first time, Draco grimaced in disdain.

When Draco walked further in and then towards the couches to put Corvus down, he saw that the coffee table was littered with knick-knacks like sweets and crumbled papers and what looked like an expensive marble chess set.

Avoiding the mustard-coloured couch like the plague, Draco settled on the maroon one, putting Corvus down carefully and then using two of the (also mismatched) pillows to build some barrier. Corvus, who only wore his pyjamas, shuddered in his blanket and Draco cursed himself for not having brought something warmer.

He eyed the Gryffindor blanket while Weasley was still standing around without knowing what to do. Draco finally sighed and pulled the knitted blanket closer. At least it was warm; he reassured himself.

Putting it over his son, Corvus sighed in his sleep and snuggled closer into the warmth, making Draco forget what kind of blanket he just used.

Turning around then, he looked at Weasley, who stood there in his living room, almost naked, staring at Draco in utter confusion.

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Uhm," Ron started, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "what do you want, Malfoy?"

He looked over where Corvus was curled up on the couch with Draco sitting next to him before he looked expectantly at the redhead.

"I think we had it established," Draco rolled his eyes. "I want you to investigate my wife."

"And why exactly," Ron walked over, looking around before he spotted a crumpled up shirt on one of the armchairs. He shrugged and started to struggle with it. Draco watched him with a disgusted expression. Ron pulled the shirt over his head, popping his head out of the hole while messing up his bed hair even more. "do you want to have her investigated?"

Draco just stared for a moment before he caught himself. "Uhm, I found something out about her."

"What?"

"She lied."

"About what?"

"I can't tell you."

"Then how am I supposed to investigate? What should I investigate? A little bit more details, Malfoy." Ron said annoyed. "If it isn't too much of a problem, of course!" Ron added scoffing.

Draco grimaced but then his glance fell at Corvus. He bit his lower lip unsure. Maybe he should have waited for his mother or see Blaise or Theo. What brought him to Weasley?

"Today would be preferable…" Ron started, but Draco gave him a look. Ron rolled his eyes and then sat down in one of the armchairs, facing Draco.

"Alright," he placated the other man. "I'll tell you."

Ron looked at him in anticipation.

Draco looked away, growing nervous as he started to fidget with his hands. "I need to ask you a question first, though."

Ron groaned. "What is this? A bloody test? Do you want my help or not?!"

The blond jerked up surprised, looking at Ron with wide eyes. "You'd help me?"

Ron grew confused. "Well, that's what you came for, right? It's the ruddy crack of dawn; I can't deal with riddles right now! Just tell me what's going on!"

"Alright, alright," Draco mumbled. He looked away. "When you told me that something wasn't right with Astoria, you were… well, right."

Ron's eyebrows nearly reached his hairline as he stared at Draco speechless.

"What?" he asked after a while, blinking.

Draco sighed, then groaned before he buried his face in his hands. After a while, he ran his fingers through his hair, then looked up again to meet Ron's eyes.

"Yesterday when I came home, Corvus had stunned all of the house elves," (Ron looked impressed at this point) ", and I cast a _Finite_ at the elves, which also hit Corvus and he started to change suddenly. His hair became dark and his eye and skin colour changed as well. I found out that Astoria had ordered the elves to glamour or transfigure Corvus every day to make him have blond hair, pale skin and blue eyes. I'm not sure what kind of spell it is yet."

"Wow," Ron said. He glanced over to the sleeping boy. "So, he isn't," he started but Draco shook his head.

"No, I mean yes," he sighed, knowing that Weasley had reached the same conclusion he had: Namely, that Draco wasn't the boy's father.

"Bloody hell," Ron continued, having misunderstood Draco's answer.

"No, listen…" Draco started again. "Corvus _is_ my son. I did a blood test and when he was born, or whatever, my lawyer did a blood test as well, and he definitely is a Malfoy. Otherwise, some spells of the Manor would have acted out. But while I did a paternity test, I also did a maternity one, and it looks like Astoria isn't the mother. Not by blood."

Ron narrowed his eyes. "Wait… so she didn't mislead you with another man's baby, but she misled you with being the one, who birthed your child?"

"Yes."

"Blimey, that's a new one."

"Unfortunately," Draco moaned.

"And what do you want from me then?"

"Well," the blond looked up hopefully. "You escorted her when she visited me in Azkaban. Did you see anything? Like her acting strangely. Did you notice if she looked pregnant?"

Ron tried to think about it. "No, not really. She wore a heavy robe, one where you could hide everything under. But I mean, you saw her when she was pregnant. Other than that, I remember that she was quite rude and that when she talked to you, she looked somewhat satisfied when you felt sorry for not believing her."

Draco frowned. "Well, I know that when I saw her, she appeared pregnant, but I couldn't move my hands, so it wasn't like I could feel it. And after Corvus, it could have been a glamour as well for all I know."

"And the second time, she was wearing a wide robe as well. I hope you don't ask me if she looked like she had just given birth? Which brings me to the rather obvious question: Can no one testify to her giving birth? I mean lying about who the father is, is quite easy but lying about being the mother? Wasn't she at St. Mungo's?" Ron asked, and his face grew serious, apparently trying to get some of the clues together.

Draco shrugged. "She wanted a traditional pureblood birth, which is that only she and one selected house elf are there for the birth. Even Father said that nobody was doing that anymore because of the risks. After I had told my Mother, she offered Astoria to stay at Malfoy Manor. She and her elf moved there while Father and I were in Azkaban and Mother was in France. So, she was all by herself."

"But didn't your lawyer go there when Corvus was born?"

"Yes, but he wasn't at the Manor for the actual birth. He received an owl, and by the time he arrived, Corvus had been cleaned and dressed. He told me that at some point."

"So, basically the baby could have been born somewhere else? And Astoria just pretended to have given birth?"

"Precisely. And now that I think about it. I have never seen any records from St. Mungos. And I mean, she was alone for the first five months until Mother and I returned. All those things women must have after birth, nobody was there to witness it, and by the time I was there, Astoria already looked fit again. In letters, she had written me that she couldn't breastfeed but that's quite normal for Purebloods."

"Breastfeed?" Ron asked perplexed.

"Yes, breastfeed," Draco replied. "You know, when a woman is pregnant, she develops breast milk. If Astoria wasn't pregnant, then she obviously couldn't have developed some. But like I said, I didn't question it."

"Okay, so she apparently birthed Corvus by herself in your Manor, then called your lawyer and got the verification that Corvus is your son through a blood test. What if she was pregnant but lost the baby?"

"So she got another one? Because I have impregnated so many women, it was probably an easy task or what?" Draco scoffed, shaking his head irritated.

"Well, maybe you asked yourself the wrong question then," Ron said, looking at Corvus. "You say that he is your son, so let's try and ask the most obvious question. Who did you sleep with in the past?"

Draco was quiet for a moment, looking up at the redhead with an unreadable expression.

Ron grinned. "It's quite the easy question, isn't it?"

"Well, I did have something with Astoria, before Easter, before you know," Draco said, and Ron's face darkened. He knew exactly what had happened during Easter that year. Their involuntary trip to Malfoy Manor haunted Ron to this day.

"I was jumping between the Manor and Hogwarts during that time. When the Death Eaters became too much, I went back to Hogwarts, and when the cruelty there became too much, I went back home. Considering that Corvus was born at the beginning of '99, the time of his conception would fall between April or May of the year before," Draco explained. He rubbed his face again.

"That's the point. Astoria does fit. I slept with her before Easter, then I went home, and you know what happened, and then I went back, and I think we had something then as well, I can't quite remember, it's all blurry. Doing the math, she is the logical answer. But the facts say something else."

"That's it, though?" Ron asked interestedly. "Only Astoria, no one else?"

Draco shrugged. "Not that I can remember. There were a few others, but they were before Astoria. In fact, in that year, Astoria had been the first."

"But you said it was blurred."

"It is. Can you remember every day of the war clearly? Some are like a big wall of fog. I do remember, but I have no idea if it's real or just made up. Some days are just shadows and blurs. Being crucioed and hexed and what not, didn't exactly help to keep a clear mind. I had other things on my mind than to sleep with women. Astoria was there and offered, and it all became too much, so I accepted. But everything went to shite after Easter, and I just can't believe that I slept around further. But I also can't say that I didn't." Draco actually looked pathetic. "I simply can't remember."

"So you only remember Astoria. What if someone obliviated you? Or used a potion?" Ron theorised and Draco just sunk back into the couch.

"I didn't think about that," he closed his eyes and leant his head back. He started to develop a headache.

"Who knows about this?" Ron then asked.

"You. And I wrote my Mother, and I will tell her as well. Other than that, no one but my house elves," Draco answered, keeping his eyes closed.

"So, I think before we come up with wild theories, we should go to St. Mungo's first and see what we can find out about the pregnancy. If Astoria was ever there for a check-up."

"Alright," Draco nodded and then straightened himself again, opening his eyes. Ron nodded, mumbling to himself while Draco kept quiet, fighting with himself until he finally overcame his pride.

"Thanks," he wrung out, and Ron looked up shocked.

"Thank you for helping me." Draco clarified and then looked away and towards Corvus. He slid over and tugged the blanket closer around him before he reached up and brushed some hair out of his eyes, trailing then a finger over his cheek slightly. He smiled sadly.

"At least you're mine," He finally said more to himself.

Ron who was watching him averted his eyes.

"You're welcome," the redhead then said determinedly. "I promise you to do my best."

He glanced at Corvus as well.

Draco nodded appreciated.

"I obviously don't need to tell you that this needs to be handled as discreetly as possible." he said, clearing his throat.

"Of course," Ron nodded.

They looked at each other awkwardly.

"Uhm, so… when would you have time?" Ron finally asked. "I have the next two days off, but we have some family meetings to make some last-minute arrangements for Ginny and Harry's wedding. But I'm happy for any excuse to get out of crafting shite."

Draco laughed. "I would have to make some arrangements with work and see when my Mother arrives. My letter was quite urgent, so I have to make sure to be there before she goes and asks Astoria about it. How about we meet tomorrow morning at St. Mungo's?"

"Sounds like a plan," Ron got up from the chair, looking out of the window front to see that the sun had risen, even if it was all foggy outside.

"Do you want to drink something? You look quite dreadful, mate." Ron asked, and Draco realised how exhausted he actually was, having been up the whole night.

"Yeah, why not," he replied, and Ron nodded.

"Alright, let me get dressed, though!" Ron said, finally realising that he had been sitting there in nothing but his underwear and a dirty shirt.

The redhead ran a hand through his hair while he walked towards his bedroom, down the hallway from the living room. He glanced at the guest room on his way there, but as soon as he reached his bedroom, he closed the door behind him. The moment Ron closed his door, the door to the guest room opened instead.

Draco looked after him, now realising as well how little the other man had worn. He shook his head before he bent down to look after Corvus. The little boy was still sleeping tightly in his cocoon of blankets.

A sound made him look up again. "That was fast," he began but stopped when he realised that it wasn't Weasley, who had come back.

"Ron?" a young woman asked. She stood in the living room, still half asleep as she was rubbing her eyes. "What's going on?"

Draco just stared at her.

She was only dressed in a bright orange _Chudley Cannons_ shirt. In one that was too large as the neckline managed to slip past one bare shoulder. The hemline just barely reached her thighs. She yawned, apparently still exhausted. Brown curls were a bloody nightmare on top of her head as she tried to tame them with one hand before she gave up, yawning once more.

It was the hair that gave her away.

"Granger?" Draco finally asked, tearing his eyes away from her legs. The woman froze when he spoke, and she opened her eyes blinking. Shock was written all over her face.


	9. Confusion

**Hey there :D**

 **You all have waited for Hermione and I'll give her to you now as this chapter is from her POV... also the plot will finally bring her back and you will see more of her from now on! I'm excited to write her interactions with Cor as well as with Draco. A lot of secrets and assumptions are about to be uncovered. But probably not the one you were hoping for!**

 **I love to read all your theories! Some are close, some are faaaar away. I'm really interested in reading your reactions to this chapter!**

 **So as always, thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows! I'm happy to welcome all the new readers, who found this story and decide to follow it!**

 _Disclaimer:_ ** _I don't own anything!_**

 **A big THANK YOU to all the people, who help me with this story:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **,** _throughhiseyes,_ SKDMHG **,** _Sinful824_ **!**

 **Enjoy this new chapter,  
Kia**

* * *

 **9\. CONFUSION**

 _Ron's Apartment, December 2000_

* * *

She stared at him in shock with her large brown eyes.

It sobered her up because she suddenly realised what she was wearing and she grabbed at the hem of the shirt, trying to tug it down. Unfortunately, pulling it down her legs also meant that it revealed more of her chest.

The blond averted his eyes then and she yelped with despair before she turned on her heels to hurry back down the hallway to disappear in the guest room she had been sleeping in.

The sounds of her bare feet indicated that she had fled the scene and Draco raised his head again to look after her. A smile tugged at his lips.

Hermione leant against the closed door; her eyes squeezed shut as she cursed herself.

She had been sleeping when she had heard voices and then went to see what was going on. She had thought it was Harry or someone else, so she hadn't bothered to get dressed. She had been sleepy after all.

A knock on her door made her yelp a second time.

She carefully opened it, peeking outside through the tiny slit. Ron was standing there with a confused expression.

"Hermione, everything okay?" He asked.

"Yes, yes," she stammered before opening the door wider, grabbing Ron's arm to pull him inside.

"Whoa…," he said surprised as she slammed the door shut again, pressing the redhead against it.

Strands of wild curls landed on her face and she blew them away annoyed. The room was dark, the blinds shut to keep the light out, so she was able to sleep in peace. There was still enough light to see Ron's surprised face.

"What in Merlin's name is Draco bloody Malfoy doing sitting on your couch?" She hissed with lowered voice, afraid that the mentioned person would hear them from the living room.

Ron paled. "You saw Malfoy?"

"Dressed like this?" He then added scandalised.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect him to be sitting in your apartment. What is he even doing here? At this time!?" She wanted to know, poking Ron in the chest. He rubbed the spot frowning.

"He's here because of… work." He stammered. "You know, I'm his assigned Auror and all..."

"Work?" Hermione whispered doubtfully and Ron just shrugged.

"Fine, whatever." Hermione finally said stepping back. She opened the shutters with her wand and light flooded the room. Combing her hair she repeated "Fine".

"Ok," Ron said slowly, opening the door. "He's going to leave soon. You can stay in here, get more sleep if you don't want to deal with him."

Hermione frowned but Ron had fled the room before she could say more.

She huffed before she walked over to where her suitcase was, tugging out something to wear. She had arrived in England late last night, and the jet lag she had suffered had caused her to be sleepy and exhausted. She probably would have slept longer or would have gone back to bed if the appearance of Malfoy hadn't woken her up that much. Now she would probably have to nap later because the exhaustion will catch up with her in a few hours again.

Getting dressed and trying to tame her hair at least a little, Hermione checked her appearance in the mirror. She still looked tired, with dark rings around her eyes. Her tanned skin from the Australian sun had pillow imprints, which she tried to rub away hastily. When they didn't go away, she gave up and shrugged.

Travelling, no matter if in the Muggle or in the Wizarding way, was always exhausting.

In the end, she slowly opened the door to peek outside. The voices were still there but hushed and faint, so Hermione continued to walk out of the room and down the hallway. When the hallway opened into the living room, she stopped again and looked outside carefully.

The direct view was on the couches, which were empty, except a small bundle.

"Maybe we should leave. Mother will arrive soon, I guess."

Hermione heard the indistinguishable drawl of Malfoy. She frowned but stepped into the open room, spotting the two men in the kitchen.

She edged closer, making one of them look up. It was Draco as Ron was struggling with the water kettle. Hermione looked over at Draco, who was watching her with obvious interest.

"Granger," he started, making Hermione jump, "I see you found some clothes."

The brunette witch blushed furiously. "Malfoy," she nodded, keeping eye contact because she refused to look away first.

They were interrupted by Ron, who cleared his throat, looking at Draco with narrowed eyes.

"How are you?" Hermione asked slowly, ignoring Ron, while she slowly walked closer.

Draco shrugged. "Relative. Yesterday I would have said brilliant, but today I'm not so sure."

The witch gave him a confused look, but she kept herself from asking further questions. She had reached the kitchen area by now, glancing over at Ron, who was trying to make tea or something before she looked back at Draco.

The brunette watched the blond, who, as she now could see, looked quite tousled. Not just his hair and tired face but also his clothes, which were rumpled and one of his sleeves was stained with something dark. In her head, he would always look impeccable, with a pressed suit and perfect hair but the man in front of her was far from it.

In fact, he reminded her of the boy along whose side she had fought a war. It was the only other time where she had seen him dishevelled, bruised and bloodied.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her questioningly as he had apparently noticed her stare.

Hermione gave him a challenging look, indicating that she didn't quite believe his answer. He averted his eyes then, obviously giving up, of which Hermione took notice with wide eyes.

"So, where have you been? Haven't seen you around much." Draco changed the subject and looked up again to blatantly let his eyes roam over her appearance. She couldn't even blame him for it because she had done the same just moments before.

She looked horrible; she knew that herself but at least he didn't look much better.

Hermione walked over to where Ron was struggling with his kitchen inventory, pushing him away slightly before taking the kettle in her hands to start boiling water. She looked up to meet Draco's eyes; Ron was standing next to them and was completely ignored.

"Australia." She answered him. "I'm only visiting for Harry and Ginny's wedding, which is at the beginning of January."

"Australia, huh?" Draco wanted to know while Ron had raised his finger to speak, but he was interrupted by Hermione.

"I went there looking for my parents over two years ago." She explained quickly.

"Yes, I've been told," Draco mumbled absently.

"Did you find them?"

She looked up astounded because his question sounded so genuine that she was completely taken by surprise. She could only nod.

"Yeah, I mean yes, I did. Took me over a year but I finally did find them a few months ago."

"That's good." He smiled at her, and Hermione nearly dropped the tea cups, which she had gotten out of the cupboard.

"Yes," she just agreed, sounding quite dumb.

"Are you living there now? Or do you plan on coming back here?"

Hermione shrugged while she continued to prepare the tea. "I do live there. Because looking for my parents took longer than I expected, I got an apartment and a job, and it somehow grew from there. But I always had the intention of coming back. I guess I'm waiting for my parents to be ready to come back as well."

"Well, I'm sure that England would be glad to have their Golden Girl back," he said, and it was the second time that Hermione was speechless. He hadn't said it in a rude way, and when she looked up to meet his eyes again, they flashed with mirth, which made Hermione smile slightly.

He changed, she noticed.

"It's in the plans actually," she admitted which made Ron gulp in air, as he heard that news for the first time. He gave her a look, but she silently told him that she would tell him later.

Draco nodded and wanted to say something when they were interrupted by someone else.

"Daddy?"

Hermione froze with the teabags in her hand, and Ron looked up surprised at the fourth voice.

"Oh, Cor. We didn't want to wake you up." Draco said with a smooth voice Hermione had never heard him use before. She watched fascinated how the blond walked over to the boy who stood next to the couch rubbing his eyes sleepily.

The toddler was dressed in a onesie with a blanket in one hand which he dragged behind him. His blond hair was a mess as he blinked at his father.

Something tugged inside of Hermione.

She watched how Draco kneeled in front of the child, pulling him closer as he combed a hand through his messy hair, trying to smooth it down. He mumbled something to him and the boy nodded before he held up his arms. Draco picked him up, cradling the boy against his chest tightly. Arranging the blanket around him again, Draco tugged him in before he turned and walked back.

The boy had his face pressed against Draco's chest; his hands were playing with a button as his large blue eyes watched Hermione and Ron curiously. He smiled slightly when he spotted Ron and remembered him but then his eyes went back to Hermione and he watched her with fascinated interest.

"I think we should go," Draco said unsure, looking from Hermione to Ron.

"How about a cup of tea?" Hermione interrupted. "You look like you need one. And your… uhm… son looks like he needs to wake up first."

She smiled at him forced, and Draco debated what he should do, but when the boy tapped his chest to get his attention, Draco sighed and nodded. "Sure, a cup of tea sounds lovely."

"Great." Hermione smiled while pouring the water into three cups. She started to get nervous because the boy was still watching her with intense eyes. Finally, she looked up to smile at the toddler.

"Do you want some milk?"

The boy looked up at his father, who nodded.

"Cold." The boy mumbled, hiding half his face against Draco's chest. Draco pinched the boy slightly, who started to giggle before he looked at Hermione again. "Pwease."

"Sure." Hermione smiled tightly before she went to the fridge to get the milk. Ron was watching them all with interest before he got out his wand and levitated the cups over to the coffee table.

Draco trailed behind Ron with the boy in his arms before he sat down.

Hermione followed with the glass of milk, which she put on the table next to Draco's tea cup. She smiled at the boy in his arms, who was still studying her every move.

"What's his name?" She asked when she sat down as well, reaching for her cup.

"Corvus," Draco answered while he snagged the glass and gave it to the boy, who downed it eagerly.

"Oh, that's a… interesting name," Hermione said, and suddenly she felt dreadful, sinking further back into the couch. She sipped her tea, lost in her thoughts while Ron and Draco started to discuss Quidditch. They both looked at Hermione, but she was too distant to notice it.

Only when Draco got up a few moments later was she pulled out of her thoughts. Surprised, she watched how he emptied his cup before he adjusted Corvus in his arms again. The boy had fallen asleep against Draco's chest.

"We really have to go now. Thanks for the tea, Granger." Draco said towards her and Hermione nodded absently.

"Do you want to use the floo?" Hermione heard Ron ask and Draco must have said yes because Ron led him up the spiral staircase to his study, where the fireplace was.

Her glance wandered back to the roofs of London and for the first time since she arrived, Hermione had to admit how much she missed home. Since she went to Australia to look for her parents, she had been back only two times. And that only for a few days, not nearly enough to compensate for the homesickness she had constantly felt.

Ron and Harry had visited her in Australia and she had always been in contact with them and Ginny and a few others but Hermione suddenly felt lonely.

Finding her parents had taken a lot of time and she had only been successful a few months ago. Her parents had taken it unexpectedly well, considering everything, but they had a new life with a house and bustling dental practice making it so they couldn't just pack their bags and leave. Hermione was supporting them and didn't want to rush them back to England. They had been organising the move in the past months but most things were wrapped up, so Hermione had hoped to tell her friends the happy news that she would come home in the next two months.

It was time, she had decided for herself.

During the search for her parents, she had started Healer practice in the Australian Wizarding Hospital. Her training was finished and she had been in contact with St. Mungo's to take a job at their research facility. She hadn't told Ron or Harry yet to surprise them, so she planned to tell them and the rest of the Weasleys later at lunch.

She was excited to return, despite making a few good friends in Australia. But she had always known that her stay there was mere until she found her parents. It felt surreal to finally think about coming back, to look for a job and later she would even ask Harry and Ron to help her look for a flat.

"'Mione, are you alright?"

Ron's voice startled her, and she looked to meet his eyes. He was walking down the stairs, watching her carefully.

"Yes, yes, why?" She asked innocently.

He shrugged. "Just wondering. You were so quiet."

Hermione looked away without answering, and Ron let her, oblivious like always. He walked over to the kitchen, leaving Hermione sitting on the couch.

The brunette tugged her feet under her before she reached for the discarded Gryffindor blanket, which Molly had knitted for Ron when he had moved into his new flat, putting it over her legs. Wrapping her hands around the still warm cup, she looked outside the living room window, watching how the fog was floating over the rooftops of London.

She sighed as she sipped at her tea.

"How old is he?" She suddenly asked after a while.

"Who?" Ron asked from the kitchen.

"Corvus."

Ron looked confused, and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Draco's son," she clarified.

"Oh," he answered, thinking. "I think Malfoy told me that he was born in January during a meeting once, so that should make him almost two."

"Oh, okay," Hermione mumbled and turned her head away.

"Why do you ask?" Ron wanted to know, and she looked over surprised that he had asked. She shrugged.

"Just interested. He seems different around the boy."

"I know." Ron huffed. "It's almost as if he is… nice."

The redhead shuddered, and Hermione laughed quietly.

"Don't forget that Mum invited us for lunch today. Everyone's excited to see you." Ron then said and Hermione sighed. She already dreaded all the questions, which her friends and the Weasleys would have. There was a reason why she chose to stay with Ron instead of the Burrow or Harry and Ginny's place and that was because he didn't ask any questions. Ron left her alone and she could appreciate that fact like nothing else.

"Yes, Ginny already bombarded me with wedding ideas before I arrived, I can't imagine what will happen once she gets her hands on me."

Ron laughed out loud at her words. "You have no idea how happy my brothers and I are that we are, well, brothers."

"But you are best man."

"Yes, but Harry's uncomplicated. I mean, he's Harry." Ron grinned, and Hermione shook her head defeated.

"Did you mean it by the way?" Ron then asked and the brunette looked up.

"Did I mean what?"

"That you are thinking about coming back?"

Hermione shrugged. "Yes, my parents are wrapping things up and I think we will return sometime next month. I'm already in contact with St. Mungo's. I actually wanted to tell you and the others as a surprise."

Ron smiled brightly at her. "Oh, the others will still be surprised, trust me! I'm so glad that you are coming back home."

"Thanks, Ron." Hermione smiled at him. "I'm glad as well."

"Do you know where you'll be living?"

"I thought I'd look for a flat in the next several days."

"You can always stay here. Or at Harry's, or maybe you'd rather here now with Harry and Ginny as newlyweds," Ron shuddered and Hermione laughed slightly. "You know, my guest room is always open."

"I'll come back to that if I don't find anything soon." she promised.

"I can ask George if there is something free in Diagon Alley, he knows everything that is going on there." Ron offered then.

"We'll see." Hermione nodded.

Ron nodded as well and then came back and settled in one of the armchairs. He unfolded the Daily Prophet, whose arrival Hermione had apparently missed. He started reading while Hermione fought an internal debate.

"What's up with Malfoy these days, anyway?" She finally asked after Ron had been reading the paper in silence. He looked at her over the pages.

"What?"

"What is Malfoy doing these days?" She repeated, and Ron shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Didn't you say you work with him?"

The redhead rolled his eyes before he put the newspaper down, looking at his friend annoyed. "Yes, we do. But that doesn't mean we have heart-to-hearts every Tuesday night at the Leaky."

"Well, he did show up at your apartment at the crack of dawn." She defended.

Ron groaned. "Oh, Hermione."

She shrugged as he rubbed his face exhausted before he gave up. "I know as much as you. He has taken over his father's firm again; George probably knows more. The production of Weasley Wheezes is next to the headquarters of Malfoy Apothecaries. I think they even met once or twice during lunch. Other than that, there's not much to tell. Since his release from Azkaban, Malfoy tries to keep his life away from the press, probably because of the boy."

"His son, right?" Hermione asked slowly, and Ron nodded, reaching for his cup of tea but it was already empty, so he put it back with another groan.

"Yes, his son and… uhm… Astoria's." Ron stuttered.

"Yes, Greengrass. Their wedding was even featured in the newspaper in Australia." Hermione added thoughtfully. "Must have been a terribly extravagant party."

"Hmm," Ron didn't really sound interested as he turned back to read the newspaper.

Hermione stayed quiet after that, sipping her now cold tea as she turned back to watch the grey view, sinking deeper into the couch.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in Malfoy anyway?" Ron looked up again, frowning.

"I don't know. I was just curious."

"Of course you were," Ron mumbled before he focused on the newspaper again.

Hermione reheated her tea magically and sunk back into the nook of the couch. She pulled the blanket higher and sighed while watching the fog outside.

The smell of baby powder wafted from the knitted blanket to her.


	10. Handwriting

**Hello :D**

 **I can't believe that this story hit over 1000 followers! This is so amazing, I can't even put it into words! I'm soooo happy that you all like this story so much! I love to read your reviews and I get excited over every notification, if it is a follow or a favorite or whatever! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!**

 **I will keep this short because I will add something at the end of the chapter! Look out for it ;-)**

 **There is one thing, though, which I always forgot to say! Somehow, I don't know why, but I always picture Astoria with blond hair and blue eyes, that's why I had her "match" Corvus to herself. I know, many see her as brunette and therefore, it wouldn't have been a real "problem" if Corvus ended up with dark hair either; but somehow I had the "both parents are blond, so the baby can't be dark-haired" cliché in my head and it fitted because like I said, I imagine Astoria as blond. Canon doesn't say otherwise, so we only have the films but whatever! She's blond in here, just wanted to make this clear!**

 _Disclaimer:_ ** _I don't own anything!_**

 **A big THANK YOU to all the people, who help me with this story:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **,** _throughhiseyes **,**_ SKDMHG **,** _Sinful824_ **,** _ **and** Lady __Evora_ **!**

 **Enjoy this new chapter,  
Kia**

* * *

 **10\. HANDWRITING**

 _Malfoy Manor, December 2000_

* * *

Draco arrived not a moment too soon.

As soon as he stepped out of the floo, Lueur appeared telling him that Mistress Narcissa would arrive soon. Draco gave his son over to the house elf, telling her that he needed some breakfast and get dressed.

Lueur promised to take care of him before she disapparated with the boy, leaving Draco alone.

The blond paced the floor in front of the fireplace, waiting anxiously for his mother.

He forgot to ask Lueur about Astoria but he didn't want to call her back, so he already planned on taking his mother somewhere else to talk. Plus, he had no idea how loyal Astoria's house elf really was, so Draco couldn't risk being eavesdropped on.

Narcissa was taking her time apparently because Draco started to once again realise that he hadn't gotten any sleep and that he needed some badly. This eyes started to hurt, more than normal, and he once again cursed himself.

Finally, the fireplace roared to life with green flames and a second later, his mother stepped out of it, looking frantically around and once she spotted her son, she rushed over to him.

"Draco! What's wrong?"

Draco silenced her at once and she obeyed as he held out his hand in front of him. She glanced at him confused but then she grasped his hand and Draco apparated them away at once.

* * *

His mother stared at him without any expression. Her face was blank and Draco had no clue what she was thinking.

They were sitting in the kitchen of their summer home, which they hadn't used for years. There were no house elves waiting and the dust was high on everything. Draco had apparated them directly to the kitchen. After cleaning at least this room, he had cast silencing spells and wards at the room, so no one could enter or listen to what they were saying.

 _Just in case._

He had made tea himself, which his mother had watched with great interest. He hadn't talked and she hadn't asked and when Draco was done and served her a cup at the small kitchen table, he had looked at her for a long time without saying anything.

Then he had told her everything.

She had been quiet, listening to his story without interfering once and now as he was done, he looked at her and she still didn't react.

"Are you sure?" she then asked with a cold voice, which made Draco shudder. It was the same voice, she had used when she was forced to play hostess to a bunch of Death Eaters and the Dark Lord himself.

Draco nodded. "I ran the tests."

"And tomorrow you will meet Mr Weasley at St. Mungo's?"

Draco nodded again.

"That nasty little slu…,"

"Mother!"

"What?" Narcissa finally showed her emotion. And she was angry. "She lied to us, Draco! She deceived you!"

"I wouldn't go that-"

"Would you have married her?" his mother then asked and Draco paused.

He had dreaded that question.

"I don't know." he then admitted, his shoulders slumping.

"You know, when you started 4th Year at Hogwarts, Astoria's father reached out to Lucius to talk about an arranged marriage between our family. Lucius listened to his offer to be polite but he never really considered it." Narcissa told him.

Draco straightened his back. "I didn't know that. Astoria always tried to catch my attention but back then, she was a year younger, which seemed like a lot and the thing in 7th Year wasn't serious."

"Maybe it was for her," Narcissa mumbled darkly.

"But in the end, she _had_ my son," Draco sighed. "Corvus is of Malfoy blood!"

"But not hers!" Narcissa insisted. "Someone else birthed your son, Draco. That's just the facts. I don't know if Astoria had planned it, if she had gotten the boy legally or not. Maybe she took him from someone because she wanted to trick you into marriage."

"Well, maybe the real mother just didn't want him!" Draco argued but Narcissa silenced him with a look.

"I'm sorry, love," She reached over the table to grasp his hands. "I know that you wanted to do the right thing when you married her and as much as Lucius was against it, I supported you. I was proud that you wanted to be by Astoria's side. But she lied to you. She didn't come and tell you how she came upon your son while offering to raise him like her own, asking for your support. She lied to you about being pregnant, about carrying Corvus and birthing him at the Manor. That wasn't an accident."

"I know, I know," Draco groaned, pulling his hands out of his mother's grasp. He put his elbows on the table, burying his face in his hands before he ran them backwards through his messy hair.

"What do I do now?" He sounded so young and desperate, like a hopeless boy and it broke Narcissa heart.

"I think going to St. Mungo's is a good idea. But if Astoria used a private Healer, it will probably be hard to get that information without her being notified," she smiled at him encouragingly.

Narcissa seemed to think about something then. "I will contact Frédéric as soon as we get back to the Manor. We need to go over the contracts again and ask him about Corvus' birthday and if he has noticed anything."

"Do that," Draco agreed, then he paused. "I think we need to head back."

"Have you even slept?" Narcissa asked as they got up and magically cleaned their cups and teapot before they put them back in the cabinet.

"No," Draco looked at her sheepishly while she gave him a disapproving look.

"As soon we get back, you will get some sleep and I will look after Corvus."

"Of course, Mother."

They apparated back to the Manor and Draco headed straight to his old bedroom. When they arrived, they were told by the house elves that Astoria had gone out. The house elves didn't know where she went off too and Narcissa and Draco didn't particularly care. Narcissa wrote to their lawyer and then spent the rest of the day with Corvus while Draco quickly wrote to St. Mungo's to announce his visit before he collapsed on the bed, falling into a restless sleep.

* * *

 **St. Mungo's, December 2000**

* * *

The next morning, Draco headed over to St. Mungo's as early as he could. Astoria had come home during the night again, apparently not even caring that she wasn't seeing either her supposed child nor her husband.

Narcissa had promised Draco to take Corvus away from the Manor during the time Draco was busy.

He had stopped at _Malfoy Apothecaries_ first so he could arrange the days off he was going to take. He hadn't told Theo and Blaise yet which Draco felt weird about but then, the fewer who knew, the better.

As he was waiting for Ron, Draco grew more nervous. Would they give them access to their files?

"Oi, Malfoy!"

The blond looked up to see the redhead walk over to where he was waiting in front of the entrance to the hospital. Ron fought his way through the other visitors and staff and when he reached Draco, he looked quite exhausted.

"What's with the uniform?" Draco asked surprised as he noticed that Ron had showed up in full Auror gear.

"I thought to make it look more official. So they think we are doing an actual investigation". Ron smirked and Draco had to admit that he was quite impressed.

"So, how's the wedding going?" Draco asked awkwardly after a pregnant pause. He remembered faintly how Ron had talked about it the other day.

"What? Oh, the wedding, yes. Hermione and I went over this morning! But you can't imagine how glad I was when I could leave." the redhead smirked. "Hermione was so envious."

"Really? How is Granger, by the way? Yesterday she looked a little spooked." Draco asked randomly as they walked into the building and towards the reception desk.

"Oh, she's fine, I think. She's already at the Burrow, helping Ginny with wedding decorations."

"I didn't take her for the crafting kind," Draco admitted and Ron laughed.

"She isn't! She hates it actually but she does it for Ginny and Harry. Probably wished that she could have stayed in Australia until the wedding. Speaking of Harry by the way, maybe you should consider getting him to help as well. Not that I'm not flattered but with Harry, a few more doors would be open to us. Think about it." Ron rattled on until they reached the desk, where an attractive brunette sat behind it. He then turned his charm full on her.

"Good morning," Ron said with a bright smile, making sure that his Auror badge was showing.

"Hello. How can I help you?" The young woman looked from Draco to Ron but in the end settled on Ron, who leant closer to her.

"We are here to request some patient's files. We are dealing with identity fraud," Ron lowered his voice, making it sound important and secretive. The woman was leaning in fascinated.

"Mr Malfoy and I would like to see the files regarding his son, Corvus Malfoy," Ron said. "That includes the pregnancy of Mr Malfoy's wife, Astoria Malfoy, formerly Greengrass."

Draco saw how Ron once again flashed his badge and the woman looked back at Draco before she nodded, directing them down a hallway and into a room, where they should wait while she informed a colleague, who would bring them the files.

"Did you just seriously flirt with her?" Draco hissed as they walked down the hallway towards the door.

"Everything for you, mate," Ron clapped him on the back grinning while Draco shook his head. They reached the door and entered the room, waiting for the files.

When a staff member brought them two folders a few minutes later, Draco and Ron each grabbed a folder and went through it.

"I have Corvus'," Draco said. "but the first entry is his check-up after the birth, which was on January 24th, two days after his supposed birth. After that, there are just the regular check-ups, where I went with him over the past years."

"This one just holds a copy of Corvus' first check-up," Ron waved the folder. It was empty but one piece of paper. "They took out the other files, which we are not allowed to see."

"So no pregnancy?"

"No," Ron sighed. "Maybe she paid a private healer?"

"What would she need a healer for if she wasn't pregnant?"

"To fake the evidence? Or maybe she was pregnant, we don't know that yet. She could have hired the Healer to support her story. It's easier to manipulate an independent Healer than walking into St. Mungo's. And the private ones do house calls, so every check-up would have been done in private," Ron explained and Draco nodded along, agreeing with all that.

He slammed the files back with a groan. "So we are no further than before."

Rubbing his hand over his face, he sighed, looked down at the files and then up to Ron, who was watching him with real compassion.

"Aren't there some family records you can check?" Ron asked, sorting through the files again to take a second look.

Draco lowered his hand, staring at Ron in thoughts.

"Family records?" he mumbled absently. "I'd have to ask my mother. Or even Father."

"Well, then that's the next step. Or you try to find out Astoria's Healer, then we could contact them directly, or at least take a closer look at them," Ron put the files on the table for the staff to put away before he and Draco left the room again.

As they walked back the hallway and past the reception desk, Draco suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

"Draco!" Astoria clutched her handbag, her eyes meeting Draco's as she spotted the two men. "Weasley?" she added, sounding rather sour.

"Astoria. What are you doing here?" Draco asked confused, trying to look innocent, especially next to Ron, who was dressed in his Auror uniform.

"I'm here to pick up your weekly potion," Astoria told him laughing, her head shaking in amusement as if she found it funny that Draco didn't remember the reason.

"What are you doing here?" she then asked.

"Uhm,"

"Just a little bureaucracy," Ron answered for Draco quickly and Astoria regarded him with a look, which made Draco frown.

"Oh, alright. Will I see you at home later?" Astoria murmured, stepping closer to take a hold of Draco's robes, pulling him closer. "I haven't seen you in a while," she continued to purr into Draco's ear while Ron started to look away with a pink face.

"Yes, I'll be home later," Draco answered without knowing what to do, pushing Astoria slightly away from him. "I'll see you then."

The blonde woman frowned at her husband but nodded, patting him on the chest but then she suddenly was in his face, pressing her lips to Draco's. Draco didn't try to struggle but since he had found out about Corvus, his affection for Astoria had dimmed immediately.

He gently pushed his wife away then, looking around them, hoping that Astoria blamed his passiveness on them being in public. He smiled at her tightly before he looked over at Ron, who had walked away from them slightly to give them space.

"See you at the Manor," Astoria smiled at him brightly and Draco nodded, watching her leave the building. She glanced back at him, waving in his direction before she apparated away.

"What a show," Ron scoffed, stepping closer again while Draco looked over at him with a deep frown on his face.

"Let's get a drink," Draco hissed and Ron smirked as he followed the blond outside.

* * *

 **Leaky Cauldron, December 2000**

* * *

Draco put the pint down, the frown still deep.

"Can I ask you a question?" Ron asked, putting his glass down as well.

Draco shrugged but nodded.

"Well," Ron cleared his throat, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Do you remember the talk we had at one of the meetings during your probation? You told me you love Astoria and that's why you married her, not because of Corvus. But now, you don't seem to believe that anymore. So I was wondering, well, how much truth was to it in the beginning?"

Draco stared at the redhead speechless. Not out of rage or anger but because it was the question he had dreaded since he found out about the deception. He had already known that his mother would ask it but now Weasley?

Draco cast a _Muffliato_ around them, Ron looked surprised when he felt the tingle of magic.

"To be honest, I don't know," Draco then admitted. "Purebloods don't really care about if it was done out of love or not. They arrange their marriages and even if they had known about the pregnancy and then me marrying her, it would have never raised any questions. I didn't love her in the beginning, I fell in love with the idea of having a family. I loved her for giving me Corvus but I wasn't _in_ love _with_ her. But after Azkaban, it seemed too easy, you know. I had no idea how people would react to me once I was out but she was there and she wanted to marry me and she had this child and it was too good to be true. I just lied to myself and believed that I didn't need to be in love with Astoria right away, that maybe in a few months or a year, I would and then everything would work out."

Draco scoffed. "Should have known that I would screw it up. Like always."

"It wasn't your fault!" Ron insisted after having listened to Draco's explanation. "If a pregnant girl had shown up on my doorstep, Mum would have made damn sure that I marry her. It's just what we are supposed to do, I guess. Hermione once told me that in the Muggle world, things would work differently. She called us 'old-fashioned' and 'traditional'."

Draco chuckled. "I can imagine her rant about it."

"Oh, you have no idea," Ron groaned. "But anyway, you didn't do the wrong thing in marrying her, despite not being in love or whatever. And Astoria knew that as well, she was raised in the same way we were. So what if that's what she wanted? Trapping you into marriage."

"You think so?"

"Wasn't she the one that followed you in Hogwarts already? Even Harry and I noticed that."

"She did," Draco nodded, taking another sip from his beer. "I just don't understand why she had to spin the whole story, then? I wasn't seeing anyone and I was in bloody prison. Why didn't she just visit me or write me letters and once I was out, she could have tried to get my attention."

"Would you have given it to her?" Ron asked with raised eyebrows.

Draco had to think about it. "Probably not." he then admitted.

"And there you have your answer," Ron raised his glass.

"I would have never taken her for being so manipulative," Draco mumbled, thoughts racing through his head.

Ron coughed, looking at Draco amused. "Well, mate, hate to break it to you. But she was sorted into Slytherin after all."

* * *

Are you sure this is ok?" Draco asked when the two men walked rather wobbly towards the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Yes, yes. Besides, when I left I told them I would only be gone for an hour and now it's already late afternoon. They might kill me less when you come to work as my alibi this time." Ron grinned at Draco, clapping him on the back before he messily took a handful of floo powder out of a pot next to the fireplace.

"Remember, it's called the Bur-row!" Ron added, pronouncing each syllable of their destination for Draco's understanding.

The blond nodded, taking a handful of the powder while Ron stepped into the fireplace.

When Ron was gone, Draco took his place, throwing down the powder as he shouted his destination before he was sucked into the green flames and was gone.

Draco stumbled out of the fireplace, feeling rather dizzy. The first thing he saw was Ron, who looked quite green in the face, his freckles standing out against the whiteness of his skin.

While he brushed the soot off his robe, Draco looked up to find three redheads and one brunette stare at them with different reactions. Mrs Weasley, sitting at the head of the table, stared at Ron angrily while Ginny just looked flabbergasted. The third Weasley was George, who stared at him gleefully while Hermione met Draco's eyes with an amused smirk on her face.

"Ronald, are you drunk?" Mrs Weasley's shrill voice sounded as she stood up vigorously, making the whole table shake. Draco now noticed that the whole table was full of pastel paper and craft supplies.

"What? Nooo," Ron answered, stepping back slightly as he brushed his robes off as well. Then he wiped quickly over his face but having forgotten that they were full of soot, he smeared the ash and dirt all over his face instead.

Draco heard Ginny and Hermione giggle.

Mrs Weasley, who was standing now in front of Ron, tried to stare him down, which was quite impressive as Ron was two heads taller than her and yet he looked so much smaller under her stare. Then she looked over to regard Draco with a glance.

"Draco, dear, what brings you here?" she asked him with a bright smile, which kind of threw Draco off. After the war, he had met her a few times in Diagon Alley. One time, his mother was even with him and he had heard her apologise to Mrs Weasley. It had put Mrs Weasley off, especially after having been the one, who had killed Narcissa's sister. But soon, the two women had chatted about different things, namely how cute Draco looked with Narcissa's grandchild in his arms. As if it was hers and not his, Draco had thought with a frown then but Mrs Weasley had latched onto them, telling them how she couldn't wait for her own grandchildren.

"Uhm, Ron invited," he started but Mrs Weasley interrupted him, pulling him by the arm before she forced him into the chair next to Hermione with a smile, pressing something into his hand. Then she rushed back to Ron, grabbing him by the arm before she pulled him out of the kitchen, mumbling something about sobering him up.

"He didn't have that much to drink." Draco stared because the whole table was looking at him in interest. "And we actually came to look for Potter," he added quickly.

Draco stared down at the thing in his hand then, having no clue what he should do with it.

"They are scissors," Hermione told him then after having interpreted his confused expression wrong. "You can cut stuff with it, like paper. We are currently making the place cards."

Draco watched her hold up her own scissors, then she showed him how she cut some piece of pastel green paper.

"Don't be ridiculous, Granger," he said then scoffing. "I know how to use some bloody scissors."

Hermione stared at him and he stared back challenging, offended that she actually thought he hadn't known. When she started to blush, he smirked triumphantly.

"Why don't you do it by magic?" Draco asked, letting his glance wander over the table and the many pieces of paper on it. He put the scissors down carefully, pushing them away with narrowed eyes anyways.

"Because it's more personal if it's handmade," Ginny answered him, quoting someone apparently because George agreed with her, nodding with a very serious expression on his face, which made Draco cough to suppress a laugh.

"Hey, can you write the place cards?" Ginny suddenly interrupted, her eyes gleaming. "You have the most impeccable handwriting I have ever seen. Even Hermione's looks messy against yours."

"His handwriting is horrible!" Draco heard Hermione say at the same time he asked Ginny, "How do you know my handwriting?"

"What?" Draco asked, staring at Hermione frowning.

"Well, the one you used at Hogwarts to write stuff about me, Ron and Harry, that was just a messy scribble." Hermione defended, looking between Draco and Ginny with pink cheeks.

Draco smirked at her amused. "Well, you haven't seen my actual one, then. That one is just one for quick notes."

"I've seen you write a letter to someone once, and I remember thinking that your handwriting was nice, that was before I realised it was you but anyway, would you please write my place cards?" Ginny looked at him with a begging twinkle in her eyes and Draco seemed to be discomfited by the way he was treated.

He and George had been on friendly terms for a while, being somewhat neighbours at Diagon Alley and Mrs Weasley had been nice as well. Yesterday, he and Hermione had managed to be civil as well but Ginny and he hadn't seen each other since Hogwarts.

And yet, they behaved as if they all had no past and Draco didn't know if it was something good or bad.

"Well, maybe he doesn't even have time to help us?!" Hermione quickly added before he could reply to Ginny's request.

He looked at the brunette again with narrowed eyes.

"Granger, if I wouldn't know better, then I would assume you don't trust me enough to even write some place cards?"

She scoffed. "No, I just thought that you wouldn't have time to sit here and 'write some place cards'. Don't you have a son and a wife?"

Her words tugged at Draco's heart and he glanced at the clock quickly, the one that showed the actual time and not where all the members of the Weasley family were. He frowned when he saw how late it was.

"Actually, now that you say it, I promised my mother to take Corvus during the afternoon. She had to visit someone important." Draco told them, getting up again.

"No, please!" Ginny whined and looking slightly distressed. It threw Draco off and it seemed that even Hermione and George were confused by their friend and sister's behaviour.

"You can bring your son here if you want! We will have dinner together later when Harry and the others return from buying the tent."

Draco debated what he should do. His mother wanted to visit Fredéric this afternoon to tell him everything and they had decided that she would do that away from Malfoy Manor. Draco had promised to be back after the trip with Weasley to take Corvus from her, so she could go. But now Astoria was also waiting for him at home, which made the whole returning home thing a little less appealing.

"I guess I could come back here with him if it's okay."

"Yes, yes!" Ginny insisted. "And you said you came here looking for Harry. He won't be back for another one or two hours, so you would have to wait anyway."

Draco nodded, then he pointed towards the fireplace. "I will floo call my mother and ask her to send Lueur over here with Corvus."

"Who's Lueur?" Hermione asked him, her cheeks still pink from embarrassment. Draco smirked mischievously.

"My son's house elf."

He watched how Hermione's face started to contort, her cheeks becoming red from anger instead of embarrassment.

Still a joy to rile her up, Draco thought to himself as he walked over to the fireplace with a smirk on his lips to call his mother.

* * *

 **The Burrow, December 2000**

* * *

Lueur and Corvus arrived a few minutes later.

Narcissa had been annoyed by Astoria, who had been pacing the Manor the whole day instead of being away like always, and she was glad that Draco was somewhere else. With Astoria now home, Narcissa couldn't leave. When Draco called telling her to send Corvus to him at the Burrow, she had been relieved.

That Astoria was left behind alone in the Manor, didn't really bother Narcissa.

So when Corvus arrived with his house elf, Mrs Weasley had fussed over him instantly. Corvus, who wasn't used to such open affection had been taken aback but when he spotted Ron, who had been sobered up, he slowly unbent and soon was entertaining the whole room with his giggles and demands.

Corvus had insisted on sitting next to Ron because somehow he had taken a liking to the man, a fact that Draco wasn't sure he liked yet. He was scribbling his own designs on left-over paper while Draco had started to write the actual place cards, Ginny hovering next to him while gushing how beautiful his handwriting was.

Draco saw that Hermione was watching her friend with knowing eyes, something Draco seemed to miss because he had no clue what was going on with the youngest Weasley.

But he complied and wrote the cards while the others crafted them.

It was a strange feeling, sitting in the Weasley kitchen, which seemed so warm and friendly, despite the horrible things Draco had said about the small house as a kid. Mrs Weasley was making tea for everyone and presented them with a pile of sandwiches and then biscuits, which seemed to equally make Ron and Corvus the happiest.

While Draco wrote the cards in silence, he observed the laughter and friendliness the others used with each other. George teased the girls and Ron, while on the other hand, Ron and Hermione had an understanding, which excluded Ginny and George but they didn't seem to care as they had their own banterings.

Corvus, who had never even come close to experiencing such an environment, was completely different than normal. Everyone was complimenting him on his nice place card, which he proudly presented to everyone every other minute. He was allowed to eat biscuits and drink juice and George even promised him to use his place card instead of the one Draco had written for him at which Corvus could only beam at.

Nobody asked about Draco's marriage or Corvus' mother, which was quite the surprise because Corvus only ever talked about 'Daddy' and 'Grandma' and never about 'Mum'.

The only one, who seemed to sense something, was Hermione, who was giving Draco subtle glances but maybe she did that because of what happened yesterday morning, Draco didn't know.

Corvus was happy and Draco was glad that he had brought the boy here, while at the same time, he felt bad about bringing him back to the Manor where the atmosphere was so much different.

When it was time for dinner, Harry and the rest of the Weasleys returned, all of them being exhausted from buying the tent for the wedding and everything else they needed. When Potter spotted him, he looked surprised but the group in the kitchen chatted happily around Corvus and even though, Draco had been silent for most the afternoon, nobody said anything about them being there. Even when the place cards and all the paper and supplies vanished and the table was set, Draco and Corvus got a plate and everyone acted as if it was completely normal for them to be there.

Corvus, who insisted on sitting between George and Ron, left Draco sitting next to Hermione, who smiled at the boy as he tried to say her name as she was the one sitting next to his Daddy.

"Her-mio-ne!" she told him and he tried to say it after her but the struggle was too much, so he just settled for "'Nee".

"Don't worry, it was hard for me as well," Ron assured him but Corvus hadn't really cared in the first place. He was already focusing on something else.

"He has a short attention span," Hermione turned to Draco after Corvus had turned away from her to tell something to Ron very animatedly.

"Short attention span?" Draco snorted. "He's almost two, Granger! You are just bummed out because he likes Weasley better."

"You can call him Ron, you know."

"I know," Draco turned towards the brunette. "And I do."

She frowned, sticking out her lower lip. "So, why do you keep calling me Granger?"

Draco leant closer, his eyes staring at hers before he winked with a laugh. "I just prefer Granger."

"Or maybe you struggle to pronounce my name as well."

Draco laughed out loud. "You think so, _Hermione_?" Draco drawled the last bit, watching how she once more blushed a deep pink. They got interrupted by George, who started to talk about expanding his warehouse next to Malfoy Apothecaries and was wondering if Draco would be interested in investing into storage space as well.

Dinner was a messy and loud affair and Draco enjoyed every minute of it, watching Corvus, who felt right at home between all the Weasleys.

After dinner, Draco realised that he and Ron never had a chance to talk to Harry, which was the actual reason why they came to the Burrow in the first place. Draco had decided to involve the Chosen One, hoping that he could help them find out some more. But then Corvus had fallen asleep in his chair, his head against George's arm and Draco knew that he would have to contact Potter during the next day or so. Ron, who seemed to think the same, nodded towards him as Draco stood up and thanked Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for their hospitality.

Lueur, who had stayed in the background, appeared next to Draco when he called her and helped him to gather the sleeping Corvus in his arms.

He told Ron to owl him then he said goodbye to everyone, which took a while because Ginny was especially grateful that he had decided to help her with her cards. In fact, she was so grateful that she unceremoniously invited him to the wedding.

Draco, as well as Harry, seemed to be taken aback by that gesture but when Harry shrugged, Draco thanked her and said that he would check his schedule.

After that, he was finally able to go home, exhausted from all the friendliness and caring.

* * *

 **Malfoy Manor, December 2000**

* * *

Once the three of them arrived at the Manor, Draco helped Lueur bring Corvus to bed, who slept through everything peacefully.

And when Draco was finally able to go to his study, pouring himself a firewhiskey to lay on the couch next to the fireplace, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the silence.

As warm and welcoming the whole afternoon was, it was a little bit too much for Draco, who, despite everything, just wasn't one for cuddly company.

Dozing off, Draco enjoyed the moment to himself, his thoughts calm for the first time in the past three days. As he laid there on the couch, one arm behind his head while he felt the warmth of the fire on his face, he was finally able to calm himself down.

He would manage to get through this! He would find out the truth with the help of his mother and even Weasley and everything would turn out fine. Draco was content, despite being unsure when his thoughts drifted to Astoria.

Did he want to work it out with her? Forgive her for the sake of loving her?

Did he even love her?

His thoughts became heavy, as did his eyes, and he was about to drift off completely when he heard the door to his study open.

Draco turned his head, blinking against the sleepiness when he recognised the object of his latest thoughts sneaking in, wearing nothing but what looked like a sheer camisole. She smiled at him when she sauntered over to the couch, he was lying on, her blond hair swept behind her shoulders.

"Draco, love, I've been waiting for you," she purred as she reached him where he was too exhausted to even react. He let her climb onto his lap, her hands on his chest where had started to play with his shirt.

As Draco started to wake up again and realise what was going on, Astoria had already managed to unbutton his shirt with a cheeky grin. Knowing exactly what she was doing, she slid her hips further down, almost grinding at which Draco now finally sobered.

He sat up slightly, putting his weight on his elbows, he stared at Astoria, who interpreted his reaction in the wrong way because she leant forwards, her hands going into Draco's hair as she started to kiss his lips and then down his neck.

"Ast…," Draco started but his wife silenced him, winking before she slid her hands down his face and to his shoulders, playing innocently with the collar of his shirt. She looked at him from under her lashes sheepishly.

"I have been thinking, you know," she mumbled, blue eyes going wide while she continued to play with his shirt nervously. "We never really talked about it but you seemed so happy, so I didn't say anything but lately, I hoped, well," she trailed off.

"What?" Draco asked, furrowing his eyebrows at the woman on top of him. The tips of her fingers ran over his jawline before her eyes met his, an unknown longing in them that threw Draco off.

She smiled at him lovingly. "What do you think about having another baby?"

* * *

 **I hope you liked it ;-)**

 **Now, I'd like to advertise a new story of mine. It's called** _The Creation of Ash_ **and I published the first chapter this morning! You will find it on my author site or in the HP category under the M-rated stories for the Draco/Hermione pairing.**

 **The Creation of Ash:  
** _Obscurial!Draco. Professor!Hermione. A dark, post-war Dramione fanfiction._

 _After a horrible incident, Draco Malfoy develops an Obscurus at the age of 4. When he grows stronger with time, he attracts the attention of Voldemort, who kidnaps him and holds him captive for decades, even after the war is long over._

 _5 years after the war, a conspiracy arises at the Ministry. A new faction of Dark Wizards seeks power and starts to steal and collect dark and powerful objects. A hint leads them to a warded place, where Voldemort apparently hid a deadly and destructive weapon. A weapon, which turns out to be a man, with unimaginable powers._

 _Before the conspiracy is able to catch him, the man escapes with the help of Hermione, who has no idea what she had just unleashed upon the Wizarding World._


	11. Tapestry

**EDIT, MAY 8TH 2017:**

Hey everyone! I know that there are some issues with updates, notification emails and all that.

Therefore, this chapter is **OLD**!

I uploaded it on April 4th 2017! Please notice that this **IS NOT** the **NEW** CHAPTER from May 8th! THIS chapter is called **11\. Tapestry** while the new chapter is called **12\. Fertility**!

* * *

 **Hello, everyone :D**

 **I'm so sorry for the long wait! I had some personal things to take care of, so I had to push writing back a little but now I'm back! And before you ask, yes, I will update ALL my stories in the next days! Give it some time, though ;-)**

 **Thanks for all your support and all the followers and reviews! And also thanks to those, who add this story to their favorites! Still can't believe it :D**

 _Disclaimer:_ ** _I don't own anything!_**

 **A big THANK YOU to all the people, who help me with this story:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **,** _throughhiseyes **,**_ SKDMHG **,** _Sinful824_ **,** _ **and** Lady __Evora_ **!**

 **Enjoy this new chapter,  
Kia**

* * *

 **11\. TAPESTRY**

 _Malfoy Summer Home, December 2000_

* * *

Draco sat on the steps, which led up to the sundeck behind the house. The winter sun was shining bright and warm and Corvus played hide-and-seek in the garden with Lueur.

Draco had lifted the charm placed on Corvus shortly after they had arrived at the Malfoy summer home and his son was currently playing around while almost raven black curls hung into his grey eyes.

It was a picture, Draco still needed to get accustomed to. It was only the third time that he's seen Corvus without the concealment charm and it was so different, so far away from the blond and blue-eyed boy that it made Draco almost uncomfortable.

Corvus, who didn't seem to notice the change, was running around the garden playfully, chasing Lueur with childish glee.

Draco sighed, looking around the garden his mother had planted and then back to the house. It was so different from Malfoy Manor, almost similar to Corvus with and without the charm. While Malfoy Manor was dark, with heavy walls, dark furniture and black chandeliers, this house was light. The rooms were airy and bright, the woods used were either a light brown or painted white and the overall feeling of the house was different, cosier than Malfoy Manor could ever be.

Lucius had gifted the house to Narcissa when Draco was born. It was up in the country, close to the Peak District, and it was the one place where Draco had no bad memories of.

He loved coming here as a kid. It was secluded and he was allowed to fly over the wide fields surrounding the manor. Narcissa spent years tending to the garden in the back, which was much more colorful and bright than the one she had at the Manor. Malfoy Manor had to be impeccable because that's where the guests were received for balls and parties or general get-togethers.

However, no one but Draco and his parents had ever visited the summer house of the Malfoys. None of Draco's friends was allowed here and none of his parents' friends had ever been invited to join them. It was a place for just them and it bore Draco's fondest memories of his family.

Of course, the term house was used loosely, considering that it was a three-story manor with too many rooms for three people but it was much friendlier. In fact, it was the only property owned by the Malfoys that was completely free of dark magic and objects.

Narcissa had insisted on that fact and Lucius had reluctantly agreed.

Not even Astoria had been here, and somehow it was the place for Draco to be right now. He had spent the morning cleaning the house and the rooms with the help of Lueur because there were no house elves allowed either. Only by the direct order of one of the Malfoys, were they allowed to come and clean, often a day or two before his parents would visit.

The kitchen, where Draco had told Narcissa the whole story the day before, had been clean and while Corvus enjoyed his breakfast there, Draco and Lueur had alternated going through the house to make it presentable again.

One of the highlights was the library, even though it was probably only a third of the one at Malfoy Manor. The room was at the end of one side of the house, which spanned over all three floors. The front was one gigantic window while the other three walls were bookshelves over bookshelves, with galleries and balconies, which brought you to doors leading to the other floors of the house. Corvus, who had naturally not been interested the slightest in the room, had dragged Draco out into the garden and now Draco watched him play in the mud with a contented smile on his face.

"He looks so much different."

Draco looked up to see his mother standing next to him, at the top of the steps. He had heard her arrive, probably looking for him at home. It was the first time for her to see Corvus as he actually looked and Draco watched her reaction closely.

"He doesn't really look like a Malfoy anymore." his mother told him, holding out her hand, which Draco grasped before he got up. They walked over to the table, which held a tablet with a steaming teapot and a plate full of sandwiches.

Draco sat down, his glance going back to Corvus, who was currently grasping Lueur's bony fingers and spinning in circles with her.

"Is that a bad thing?" Draco asked his mother but she just smiled at him.

"On the contrary. I think that his name suits him even better now. Isn't that right, little raven?" Narcissa shouted to get Corvus attention. She waved him over and when he saw the food, he started to run towards them to climb up the steps to the sundeck to join them.

With dirty fingers and a sheepish look, he snatched some of the sandwiches before he hurried along again, returning to Lueur. Draco watched him share the sandwiches with the house elf, whose ears turned pink at their tips.

"Why do we keep coming here?" Narcissa wanted to know, her voice heavy as she looked around her garden. "You cleaned the whole house?" she asked then.

Draco nodded, looking a little bit guilty. His mother hadn't been to this house since Lucius was sentenced to Azkaban three years ago. It probably saddened her, being here without her husband.

"Astoria tried to seduce me yesterday," Draco admitted and Narcissa raised an eyebrow at him.

He looked away, cheeks warming. "She basically told me that she wanted another baby."

Narcissa's teacup nearly broke when she slammed it back to its saucer. Draco actually flinched at the sound.

"She what?" his mother's voice was ice.

"She was suddenly there and asked me about what I thought about having another baby. I was too shocked to say anything at first and then I didn't know what I should do. Lueur saved me by interrupting about Corvus needing me. I left Astoria in the study. Everything was fine with Corvus, Lueur just wanted to help me but I stayed in the nursery for the rest of the night. Then in the morning, I took Corvus and Lueur and fled here." Draco groaned, running a hand through his hair.

"When I left, I told Astoria that we would talk about it later but I don't want to talk about it. Not with her."

Narcissa stared at him with tight lips, the frown and displeasure obvious. "I can't believe that girl!" she finally spat.

"I don't even know how she suddenly came up with that idea. She never liked taking care of Corvus as a baby. And now she wants another?" Draco continued while he watched his mother take out two scrolls of parchment from her robes.

"I went to see Frédréric yesterday and he confirmed what we already suspected. When he was called to the Manor the night Corvus was born, the baby was already cleaned and wrapped in a blanket by the time he arrived. Astoria did look exhausted lying in bed but that's quite an easy thing to fake." Narcissa told him, giving him the two parchments.

"One is a copy of your marriage contract and the other is a request for the blood certificate." she explained to him.

"Frédéric told me that we need to be careful about our next steps. If we request to annul the marriage first, then Astoria could gain custody of Corvus as she is named his mother on the birth certificate. On the other hand, if we try to solve the maternity first, then Astoria could get more creative in regards to your marriage. He said the best course would be to go to court for the maternity and once it was proved that she isn't the mother, we should then immediately file for an annulment in one hearing."

Draco nodded along, reading over the parchments with furrowed brows. "But how do we prove that she lied about the maternity?"

"That's the tricky part. Because the birth certificate is already written and signed, the paternity and maternity of Corvus are legally documented. Now, the only way to make the regular birth certificate invalid is to request a blood certificate under Pureblood laws. Despite the war, we can still plead on these laws in front of the Wizengamot and they need to sustain it."

"But a blood certificate can only be requested by the Head of House, which in our case would be Father."

"Exactly." Narcissa nodded. "Despite you having taken over the family business, while Lucius is still alive, no matter his whereabouts, you can't function as the Head of Malfoy House. Lucius will be released at the beginning of May and after he regains his place, he can request the blood certificate on behalf of assuming that Corvus might not be a Pureblood."

"So, we have to wait for Father to come home but why can't we annul the marriage sooner?"

"Would you feel comfortable with Corvus being away for the months until Lucius is released? Who knows what Astoria will do to him if she gains custody as his mother." Narcissa asked and Draco frowned at that picture.

"Your marriage contract states that the union can be dissolved within three years after the wedding. You were married on July 3rd, which means that in about seven months, your marriage will be finalised, which means that you can't ever divorce Astoria. She will have full access to all the Malfoy vaults, the official ones at least. The marriage can be finalised before the three years are up and that's when Astoria gets pregnant with your heir. Because Corvus was born out of wedlock, he doesn't count."

"So if Astoria became pregnant, there would be no way to get out of marriage again?"

"No."

Draco gulped and his mother gave him a serious look before she continued. "I don't think that Astoria brought up the second child topic on a whim. She has this contract as well and knows that if she gets pregnant, she wouldn't have to fear anything. Right now, there are seven months where the fate of your marriage is still unclear. Maybe she even sensed that you have started to act differently around her. Or that she finally realised that she had been neglecting you and Corvus."

"And if she discovers that you know about Corvus, then you can bet that she will do everything in her power to get pregnant within those seven months."

"But what if she is pregnant and the marriage is finalised and then she loses the baby or what if the baby isn't mine?"

"Those are unique cases and the marriage would be pending in every sense. In Astoria's case, if she falls pregnant now, then the pregnancy would go past July obviously. During the time of the pregnancy, you wouldn't be allowed to make any demands in regards of annulment. In your case, the final decision would be on the day the baby is born. If she loses the baby before July, then you would be able to request an annulment again but if she loses the baby after July, then it would have been fought out in front of a court. If she births the baby after July and it's your heir, then the marriage would be finalised on the date of birth. If the baby is born and isn't your heir, then the marriage would be annulled."

Draco's head was spinning. "So long story short, I can't let her become pregnant by me."

"Precisely. All we have to do now is wait out the next seven months until Lucius' release from Azkaban. He will request the blood certificate, which will prove Astoria has been lying and which will also give us a good reason to annul the marriage. You will have full custody. Astoria will no longer be your wife nor have any rights to Corvus."

"What exactly is the blood certificate again? I think I read about it but I'm not sure."

Narcissa rolled her eyes. "Oh, it's just another pureblood way to prove that the family bloodline is clear of dirty blood. Your grandfather requested one for you, which was one of the reasons why Lucius and he started to dislike each other. A blood certificate is an enchanted parchment laced with the blood of the baby. The certificate is signed by blood quills, which use the writer's blood as ink. If the blood matches the one from the baby, then the name will stay on the certificate. If the blood doesn't match, the name vanishes. It's the archaic way of bragging about the pureness of your family's blood. Nowadays the Ministry doesn't issue them anymore but they still respect Pureblood laws, so they still grant the request of those certificates. Society will surely frown upon Lucius for requesting one, right when he is released from Azkaban but that's just a small price to pay if you ask me."

Draco agreed with his mother. His glance wandered over to Corvus in his thick winter coat where he was still playing, his laugh drifting over to Draco with the wind. He nodded as well.

"Yes, I agree."

His mother smiled at him sadly, not being able to imagine what Draco was going through at the moment.

"Are you sure you want to annul the marriage, Draco? It's okay if you don't, you know. If you love…," Narcissa stopped when Draco shook his head vehemently.

"No, I don't love Astoria. I thought I could, I thought I would someday but despite the whole thing with Corvus, I started to realise that it wasn't ideal. In the beginning, she was nice and caring but eventually she only cared about her friends and having money to spend. It's been months since she said goodnight to Corvus without me being there, you know. Just her going into his room to say goodnight, read a story or whatever. She doesn't care and acts like he's… like he's," Draco paused, realising where he was going with this whole talk.

"She acts like Corvus's isn't hers." Narcissa finished his thoughts and Draco nodded, lips pressed together while his grey eyes searched for his son between the rose bushes.

"And even if we settle the whole deception and she tells me the truth, that behaviour wouldn't change. So, no, I don't think that we should stay married."

Saying it out loud sounded so final that even though Draco knew it was for the best, it just stung. But it also made him finally admit that this wasn't the first time he had doubts about his future with Astoria. Even before Corvus' secret was revealed to him, he had struggled with accepting that he had once again failed and that this marriage had been too rushed.

"What should I do then, Mother?" Draco asked. "What if I look for Corvus' real mother just to find out that she didn't want him. Because she wasn't ready or didn't want children or because he was mine." Draco paled. "That would be worse than anything Astoria could have ever done."

Narcissa's heart broke when she saw the fear of rejection of Draco's face, knowing that this went far deeper than her son had let on until now. He didn't fear that the mother hadn't wanted the baby, but rather because Draco was the father. A hot flame of anger surged through her and it was one of the few times that Narcissa actually cursed her husband for bringing them into Voldemort's ranks. It had not only scarred Draco, literally as well as figuratively, but it had also left a deeper gash than Narcissa had suspected. Or maybe she had tried to push that away as well.

Draco deserved better, that was clear.

"I know it won't be easy to live with Astoria in the coming months and pretend nothing has happened. But you have Corvus and me and if it gets too much, then just go to work or travel with Blaise and Theo. For Salazar's sake, Astoria is often enough out with her friends, so why can't you go with yours. Or send her off somewhere, I'll pay, I don't even care." his mother showed her rage openly and got more enraged with every word. Draco smiled at her thankfully.

"If I just could learn more about Corvus' mother. Isn't there some sort of record?" Draco said desperately. "Something that magically shows all birth records?"

Narcissa looked at her son with wide eyes. "There is."

"What?" Draco almost yelled at her and his mother gave him a scornful look but he ignored it. "Where, Mother?"

"Grimmauld Place." Narcissa murmured. "My aunt had this tapestry of the Black family tree. It's old magic, really old magic and it's based on blood, not on records."

"Can we go there?" Draco stood up, literally ready to go but Narcissa frowned, placing a finger on her lip.

"You've never been there, Draco and I believe that Mr Potter is the current owner of the townhouse. Sirius must have given it to him."

"So, we go and ask Potter to show us!" Draco demanded. "I decided to involve him anyway. If we hurry, we might catch him at the Ministry."

"Draco, wait-" Narcissa hold up her hand, trying to calm her son. She sighed.

"Calm down, darling." his mother reached him and patted his arm awkwardly. "The tree might not show children born out of wedlock. It's complicated magic and there are always some things that are better not recorded anywhere. The Black family had its own secrets like the Malfoys had as well. I don't want you to get your hopes up, alright?" She looked at him with sad eyes. "Let's write Mr Potter an owl and ask if he would be willing to meet us later. Don't rush and demand things, Draco. It won't get you anywhere."

She conjured some parchment and a quill and set up a letter for Harry.

"Why don't we have such a tree?" Draco asked as he watched his mother write.

His mother looked up.

"Oh, I'm sure the Malfoys have one somewhere, but Lucius never showed it to me. And I frankly never asked," she told him and Draco smiled tightly.

"You know, it's rather curious because somehow I could imagine Father making me sit in front of a family tree, just to memorise every single ancestor we have."

Narcissa smiled as she reached for her teacup to take a sip. "I had to do that. That's why I know about Aunt Walburga's tapestry. My parents sent Andy, Bella and me over there a few times to memorise it. Sirius and Regulus were forced to do it as well." Narcissa then frowned. "I think the only one, who ever knew it by heart, was Bellatrix."

Draco's face became emotionless at the mention of his aunt's name. His mother must have known because she tried to change the topic as fast as possible. "Anyway, I think Lucius had to sit through something similar with the Malfoy line but he must have hated it deeply because he never made you do it, no matter how much he told you what a proud family we belong to."

"That's true," Draco said, because the only thing he recalled was that Lucius showed him a book once with a biting comment that it held the family tree, not magically but handwritten, and that Draco was welcome to study it but he didn't need to. Draco had taken a look but it wasn't really interesting at that time, so he had put the heavy book back in its place and he had never looked at it again.

"Maybe you should visit him and ask him about it," Narcissa suggested. "If the Black one doesn't help us."

Draco bit his lip and his mother glanced at him knowingly. He had played with the thought to inform his father about the newest developments but he had no idea how Lucius would react to them.

But thinking back, his father had never been a fan of Astoria's in the first place.

"Don't be afraid, Draco," Narcissa reassured him as she finished the letter and rolled it up. "Lucius won't be any problem. And he will agree to request the Blood Certificate once he's released. I've been visiting him and told him about Cor and he's excited to meet him."

Draco shrugged but didn't say anything.

"Let's head back to the Manor. It's still rather chilly outside and then we can send the letter to Mr Potter." Narcissa cleaned the table with the flick of her wrist before she got up and straightened her robes.

Draco followed and called to Corvus, who reluctantly came to the porch, covered from head to toe in dirt.

"What happened?" Draco asked grimacing at his son's look.

"Fell!" Corvus lifted both of his arms before letting out a huff. "Happens, Daddy."

Draco raised an eyebrow as Corvus squeezed past Draco, leaving a trail of fresh dirt behind. Lueur, who didn't look any better, followed. She looked at least a little remorseful, Draco noticed with a shake of his head.

Draco followed them while cleaning up at the same time. Narcissa waited for them at the floo, her eyes wide as she spotted Corvus. Then she looked from Corvus to Draco.

"You can say what you want, but you never looked like this as a child." she stated sharply.

"I wasn't allowed to look like this," Draco answered. "There's a difference."

Corvus just smirked up at the two adults sheepishly before he grabbed Draco's hand and watched how Narcissa flooed away with a sigh. Draco waited for Lueur to put on the glamour again before he and Corvus followed. When they stepped out of the floo, Lueur was already waiting for them, completely clean while holding a towel to catch any dirt from Corvus.

While Narcissa went to send off the letter to Harry, Draco forced Corvus to follow him to the bathroom to take a bath. Corvus threw a fit because he hated bathing and it was a struggle to even get him out of the clothes. When he was finally sitting in the bathtub, splashing away because he realised that bathing wasn't so bad, Draco looked around to see that they had managed to dirty up the whole bathroom with mud.

Draco sighed, thinking about how to approach the topic of shampoo when Corvus threw a cup full of foamy water directly into Draco's face, giggling away.

"Corvus!" Draco spluttered, having swallowed some of the soapy water.

Dripping with water, smeared with mud, Draco frowned at his son, who was laughing and enjoying his bath as if nothing happened. When Lueur appeared next to him, Draco instantly silenced her with a look.

"Master," she began, struggling to keep from smiling, "ze Mistress and 'er elf are out. Zey left a message wiz ze other elves."

"Oh good," Draco slumped at the news, glad that he wouldn't have to face Astoria right now.

"Lueur can finish up, Master." the elf nodded towards Corvus, which was probably her subtle way to tell Draco that he would need a bath as well. Draco agreed and got up, leaving the two of them behind to walk towards his old bedroom.

Upon entering, the smell of hot tea immediately drew him over to the sitting area. He couldn't sit but he filled a cup while standing and took a few sips before he put the still half-full teacup down again and went into his bathroom to take a bath of his own.

* * *

After he had put Corvus down for his nap, Draco met with his mother in her chambers.

"Did Potter send you a reply?" Draco asked as he sat down and reached for some sandwiches, which had appeared a few seconds before.

"He did." Narcissa nodded, teacup in her hand. "He's willing to meet us after work, in about two hours.

"Good." Draco nodded pleased. "Lueur will look after Corvus while we are gone. Astoria is out and I hope she won't return before us."

"Where is she now?" Narcissa asked in distaste.

Draco shrugged. "I don't really care."

His mother sighed but they dropped the topic to continue with their afternoon tea.

* * *

Exactly two hours later, Draco and Narcissa arrived at Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

His mother directly apparated them in the entrance hallway. Someone screeched right above Draco and he looked over to see Walburga Black stare back at him.

"Malfoys!" she hissed and Draco wondered if she was happy about them being there or not. He couldn't really tell.

"Ignore her!" someone said and Draco looked up to see that Harry had stepped out into the hallway, smiling at Narcissa before he nodded towards Draco in greeting.

"The tapestry is in there," Harry said and Narcissa nodded, pulling Draco away from the painting, who cursed after them.

"You live here, Potter?" Draco asked but Harry shook his head.

"No, not anymore. We did, after the war for a few months but Ginny and I quickly realised that we wanted a garden to fly and play Quidditch, so we bought land close to the Burrow - that's her parents' house - and built our house there. I still keep this place, though. I don't know, probably because Sirius gave it to me. I've only been back here a few times," the black-haired wizard told them when they entered the sitting room and Draco instantly focused on the tapestry.

He found his parents at the end, beneath Bellatrix and Rodolphus and close to the burned-out face of his Aunt Andromeda. "Once you burn the faces, the tapestry won't follow that bloodline anymore," Narcissa explained. "Which is why neither Nymphadora or Teddy are on here."

Draco glanced over to Harry, who had looked surprised at that information as well. Draco noticed how he started to frown at the fact that his godson wasn't on there.

The blond focused back on the tapestry, his finger traced over his own face but then he stopped, frowning. Next to him, a new face had appeared, a banner beneath announced it to be Astoria Malfoy, née Greengrass and the year they were married. He looked further.

"Corvus isn't on there."

Narcissa stepped closer, observing her own branch and how it ended with Draco and Astoria. "Oh," she said.

Draco looked up at her. "What?"

"He's not on there because he isn't supposed to be," she explained.

Draco's face darkened. "What does that mean?"

His mother looked at him sadly. "This is a pureblood tapestry, Draco."

Narcissa watched how Draco's face fell when he realised what she had just told him. "That mean's that Corvus is…,"

"... a Half-blood." Harry answered for him. He had been keeping his distance, letting the two Malfoys observe the tapestry on their own but he couldn't help but utter the obvious fact.

Narcissa nodded, walking over to gently brush her fingers across Draco's face on the tapestry. She then sneered at Astoria. "This doesn't really answer your question but it does make it clear that Corvus isn't Astoria's and your son. Otherwise, he would have been on there."

"Bollocks!" Draco cursed and he punched the wall, Narcissa flinched at his reaction and took a step back. "Who in Salazar's name is Corvus' mother?"

"You don't remember with whom you… uhm?" Harry asked dumbly, blushing as he looked over to Narcissa and Draco stared at him annoyed.

"I do remember Pansy and Astoria but that's it," Draco told them anyway.

"Maybe you had been obliviated or your memory was modified?" Harry suggested. "I mean, when was your son born? January, that means, going 40 weeks back… April, May he must have been conceived? Any memory blackouts during that time?"

Draco stared at his former enemy, knowing that Potter had just gone into complete Auror mode. And it also meant that Ron had already filled him in on what happened. Now Draco only had to officially ask for Potter's help in his case.

"I don't…," he started but then stopped, as if he was remembering something. "Well, during the battle, when I was hit with the nerve damaging spell, I had a few episodes the days after that. That's why I wasn't directly escorted to Azkaban, I believe. I mean, I spent about four days in the hospital wing in Hogwarts before the Aurors came and arrested me. I remember the basics of those days but not everything, I just blacked out too much. But Potter, I could hardly walk… how on earth would I have been able to, well," now Draco blushed while he glanced at his mother, who rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, darling, I do know how it works, otherwise you wouldn't be here." she snorted and Draco blushed even harder.

Harry shrugged. "Adrenaline, grief, I know that Ginny and I…" he glanced at Narcissa uncomfortably. "Anyway, but just because you don't think you were able to do it, doesn't mean it didn't happen, right? After all, you said that you can't remember everything, right?"

Draco shrugged. "Yes, I mean, I do remember that after a while in the Great Hall you assembled a group to search through Hogwarts to see if someone was still around, hiding or hurt. I remember that I volunteered and that we ran into that group of Slytherins, which had hidden themselves in the dungeons and one had cast a slicing hex at me. And because I was already weak from the nerve damaging spell, I ended up in the hospital wing. I woke up later to McGonagall's yelling."

"Right," Harry remembered. "Madame Pomfrey took care of you and then the Aurors came and wanted to take you into custody. McGonagall told them that you needed medical attention but they refused to bring you to St. Mungo's. McGonagall was afraid that if she allowed them to take you, you would end up in Azkaban where no one would look after you."

"What?!" Narcissa interrupted, staring at them in horror. "I didn't know that."

Draco actually looked guilty. He had never told his mother about that incident.

"The Aurors had arrested you and your husband while you were still in the Great Hall," Harry explained. "After that, they came looking for Malfoy but he was with our group and by the time they caught up, he had been brought to the hospital wing already. Like the other Death Eaters, they wanted to arrest him, too, not caring that he was in no condition to be put in a cell all by himself, let alone for travelling. McGonagall refused them entrance to the wing, telling them that Draco would need at least four days to recover. She said that they could come back after that to arrest him."

"I didn't exactly know what she was yelling but it did sound like she was ripping someone a new one," Draco stated smugly.

"No one wanted to deal with McGonagall that day, so the Aurors went to arrest all the others, telling McGonagall that they would be back for you in four days time." Harry grinned back.

"Yes, that I do remember. I woke up and then snuck out after Madame Pomfrey told me about the nerve damaging spell and the slicing hex. I wanted to help and I did meet some estranged students, who were already helping to clean the castle. I helped, too but at some point, it became too exhausting and I blacked out again, then woke up in the hospital wing again to Madame Pomfrey's lecturing. I think I went out a few times more after that but everything is rather hazy because I lost consciousness so many times during those days. But it never occurred to me that during that, Corvus was…," Draco trailed off, staring at the tapestry again.

"Well, after that you were in Azkaban and unless you donated sperm or something like that, it must have happened in that time frame, right?" Harry said and besides Draco, Narcissa nodded with an unreadable expression.

"And it must have been someone, who wasn't a Pureblood." the Boy Who Lived added and Draco frowned but he agreed.

"So, that already narrows things down, right?"

"I guess," Draco answered. "I mean, all logic speaks for Astoria but things like this," Draco nodded towards the tapestry, "and her behaviour, the transfiguration, the paternity test, that all proves to me that she can't be Corvus's mother and the longer I watch her with him, the more I believe it."

"Maybe we should ask Lucius if there is a Malfoy record somewhere?" Narcissa said hopefully. "The Blacks were always quick to label someone a blood traitor while the Malfoys have the strange thing where they value family over blood."

"How nice," Harry said sarcastically and Draco scoffed at him while Narcissa silenced both men with a sharp look.

"Anyway, I guess that W- Ron filled you in about the whole affair?" Draco turned fully towards Harry, who nodded.

"He did after dinner yesterday," Harry answered. "I have to admit, that's quite the story, Malfoy."

Draco laughed dryly. "You have no idea."

"He just told me, in case you wondered. Nobody else knows."

"I appreciate it." Draco nodded, then looked over at the tapestry again.

Harry smiled slightly but nodded. "You know, Ron is already on it and I will help where I can but we shouldn't draw too much attention by asking questions. But if you want to know more about the days after the battle, you could ask Neville or even Hermione."

"Longbottom?" Draco perked up.

"Yes, he's a Professor at Hogwarts and after the battle, he was really active organising the rebuilding and cleaning groups. I think he knew everyone who stayed at Hogwarts during the days after. Maybe he could help you to narrow things down further, or tell you if he saw you with anyone? And Hermione was around there as well but she wasn't at the castle but in Hogsmeade, maybe she heard something as well?"

"Right." Draco nodded absently. "Thanks, Potter."

"Yes, thank you for letting us come here, Mr Potter," Narcissa said smiling. "We appreciate your help."

Harry blushed at Narcissa's words. "No problem."

He then looked over at Draco. "You know, we wanted to meet for a game of night Quidditch later tonight. If you want to clear your head for a while, you are welcome to join. We play on a field close to the Burrow, not a full match but just for fun for an hour or so. Muggles have something they call floodlights and we installed a magical version a few weeks ago, so now we can play at night as well. It's quite fun."

Draco thought about the offer but then his mother squeezed his arm and he looked up to see her nod in encouragement.

"You should go, dear," she told him. "I will look after Corvus and I think that clearing your head would be a good idea."

"Alright." Draco nodded. "I'll be there."

"Don't worry, Malfoy. Despite your problems, nobody will have mercy on you, so prepare to get your arse kicked."

Draco scoffed. "You wish, Potter."


	12. Fertility

**8th of May 2017**

 **FOR REFERENCE! PLEASE READ!**

I know that many are confused about new chapters/updates and all that. Apparently, ffnet is having a glitch at the moment, I tried to upload **THIS** chapter yesterday, on May 7th but it didn't show up after I received an uploading error. Some of you still saw that it was updated and got confused, in order to clear things up and because my chapter titles are confusing, I decided to **RENAME** all the chapters!

Here is a little overview, so you can control which chapter you already read and which you haven't yet! The best ist to read through the content and not let numbers and titles confuse you :D

I'm really sorry about this all!

So the chapter titled **11\. Tapestry** is OLD; the chapter titled **12\. Fertility** is **NEW**! If everything works smoothly this time, you will see _12\. Fertility_ below! Here is the complete overview of chapters:

 **POSTED/OLD:**

 **1\. Prologue:** Draco finds out Corvus' secret.  
 **2\. Prison:** Draco gets told he will be a father.  
 **3\. Tea:** Hermione meets Ron and Harry at the Leaky. *HERMIONE POV*  
 **4\. Birth:** Corvus is born.  
 **5\. Freedom:** Draco is released and sees Corvus for the first time.  
 **6\. Revelation:** Many scenes, Astoria and Draco's wedding, Theo and Blaise, at the end, Draco finds out about Corvus.  
 **7\. Doubt:** Draco does the paternity test, then goes to Ron to ask him to investigate.  
 **8\. Investigation:** Draco tells Ron about Astoria and her deception, Hermione walks out in the end.  
 **9\. Confusion:** Hermione talks to Draco and meets Corvus. *HERMIONE POV*  
 **10\. Handwriting:** Draco goes to St Mungo's with Ron, then to the Burrow to write wedding cards. At the end, Astoria tells Draco she wants another baby.  
 **11\. Tapestry:** Draco hides at his summer home from Astoria. Narcissa comes and they talk about divorcing Astoria. They have to wait for Lucius to be released. In the end, they go to see the tapestry at the Black house and find out that Corvus is a half-blood. Harry then invites Draco to play Quidditch. ***posted already on April 4th***

 **NEW:**

 **12\. Fertility:** The Quidditch game happens and Draco gets injured, Hermione is there to help him. *HERMIONE POV* **NEW** | **POSTED ON** **May 8th | NEW  
**

* * *

*linebreak*linebreak*linebreak*

* * *

 **Hello everyone!**

 **Another chapter, here we go ;-)**

 **This one is from Hermione's POV again and after this chapter, we will do a little time jump. The last chapter was a lot of talking and I hope that this one clears things up a little. It's a step forward and I dropped a few hints along the way as well. Can you spot them? ;-)**

 **I never thought that the story would drag itself so long and that we already reached more than 50k of words, what? I promise you that the next chapters will reveal A LOT! We will have a wedding, and we will go to Hogwarts, talk to Dumbledore and Neville and we will have a suddenly motherly Astoria.**

 **Stay tuned :D**

 _Disclaimer:_ ** _I don't own anything!_**

 **A big THANK YOU to all the people, who help me with this story:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **,** _throughhiseyes **,**_ SKDMHG **,** _Sinful824_ **,** _ **and** Lady __Evora_ **!**

 **Enjoy,  
Kia**

* * *

 **12\. FERTILITY**

 _Field behind the Burrow, December 2000_

* * *

"That's really impressive," Hermione gasped as she looked up at the floating spotlights, which were shining so brightly that they lit the whole field. It reminded her of the lights in football stadiums, which were used in order to play at night.

"Harry came up with it," Ginny nodded. "And together with Ron's Deluminator and Dad and George, they build them."

They were walking up the hill to the pitch, Harry and Ron in front of them and George, Angelina and two friends of theirs behind them.

"You are only seven players, how will you play?" Hermione asked, glancing behind them.

"It's a reduced form," Ginny explained. "Four players per team. One keeper, one beater and two chasers of which one is also the Seeker at the same time. We will only use one Bludger and once the Snitch is spotted, the two Chasers left do a little one-on-one."

"Who's the eighth player?" Hermione wanted to know as they finally reached the field and Ginny dumped her broom on the ground with a huff.

"I think Harry invited Malfoy."

"Oh."

"Hermione, we set up a couch and chairs at the sidelines if you want to take a seat there," Ron interrupted them as he joined them, his broom on his shoulder while he pointed to the makeshift stand. Hermione nodded absently.

"Where's Malfoy?" George asked as he joined them as well, Angelina by his side and the two other. They had been introduced to her as Andrew and Jesse and they apparently worked with George together. They obviously weren't here the first time because Harry and Ron joked around with them and Ginny whispered to Hermione that she believed that the two young men were a little bit more than just friends.

"Oh, you don't play?" Jesse asked Hermione, having obviously thought that she was the eighth player. The brunette shook her head.

"Draco will be here soon," Harry said while he put the box with the balls down. "We can sort the teams already."

"This Malfoy is a seeker as well, right?" Andrew asked and Harry nodded. "So we can play Harry, Angelina, Andrew and I in one team and that Malfoy, Ginny, George and Ron in the other. Seeker, Chaser, Beater, Keeper."

"Sounds good for me," Ron exclaimed and they started to prepare their brooms and gear while Harry bewitched the balls and stadium, so the one Bludger and Snitch wouldn't be able to fly away too far.

Hermione stood around a little helplessly. She had agreed to join them to watch because she thought it might be fun and she had missed her friends but now it was dark and freezing and she would rather have curled up with a book somewhere.

At least the improvised floodlights worked so everything was rather bright instead of dark and gloomy. She could see her breath though and as she watched the others put on gloves and layer warming charms on their uniforms, she wished she had brought a blanket.

Or a fire pit.

A movement in the dark caught her eyes and she turned her head to see that Draco was finally coming along as well. As he came closer, she saw that he was carrying not only his broom but another bundle as well.

"I apologise," he said breathlessly as he finally arrived. "But Corvus didn't want to sleep and was throwing a fit when he found out that I wanted to leave and neither my mother nor Lueur was able to calm him down. I hope it's alright that I brought him along, he will fall asleep soon anyway."

Hermione spotted the blond boy snuggled up against Draco's chest, a thick blanket wrapped around him. Draco struggled to hold him as well as his broom, so he put latter on the ground.

"Don't worry, mate. We have a couch over there you can put him on and still be able to see him from anywhere on the field. Just make sure to keep him warm and maybe put a shield around him to keep the bludger away," George suggested, pointing to the same couch, which Ron had shown Hermione before.

"You can give him to Hermione," Ginny shouted from a few feet away as she was helping Harry. "She will watch as well."

Draco met Hermione's gaze, who blushed as she stepped closer. "I can sit with him and make sure he's warm."

"Thanks, Granger," Draco mumbled absently, a little too stressed to notice how she frowned at him using her last name again. But she just stepped closer and he gave her the bundle carefully.

"He's half-asleep already. It will be fine if you just put him down," Draco told her with a low voice and she nodded as she held the boy closer to her chest, adjusting him in her arms. The blanket he was wrapped in was warm and cosy and she sighed at the warmth as she carefully walked over to the couch and away from the others, who were now preparing to play. She faintly heard how George introduced Draco to his friends but then she was too far away to hear.

When she reached the seats and couch, she put a warming charm on them as well since they were cold and stiff from the December air. She carefully put Corvus down on the couch, who just sighed and snuggled deeper in the blanket, his eyes closed.

She erected a bubble around them, keeping out sounds and the wind and any stray balls that might aim for them. She heated the air and it soon was so much better than outside in the cold.

Who played Quidditch at night in the middle of Winter anyway?

She sat down in the other corner of the couch, making sure to keep an eye on Corvus before she focused on the game. It had already started, her friends flying above her in the air. She watched for a few minutes but her glance always wandered back to the now sleeping boy next to her.

He turned out to be more interesting and she slid over carefully to not wake him and to watch him sleep, fascinated. Corvus's eyes were fluttering slightly and his lips curled and it reminded her of Draco so much that he had to giggle.

She was about to reach out to brush away the fine blond hair when a movement in the air made her look up. It took her a moment to find the cause but then she saw how Harry was flying next to Draco, who was slumped over his broom unconsciously and if Harry wouldn't have kept him on the broom with magic, he would have fallen off. They slowly made their way to the ground, the others helping and when they were finally down, Ginny was waving Hermione over hastily.

Hermione glanced back at Corvus, who was still asleep and then she stepped out of the bubble and ran across the field to reach the group. She met Ginny half-way, who shouted that she would look after the child.

When Hermione reached her friends, they immediately made space for her, knowing that she was the one with the healer training. She kneeled on the ground, next to Draco, who was sprawled in the grass, his body shaking.

"What happened?" she looked up at Harry, who shrugged.

"He was fine but then he suddenly said he was feeling dizzy," George answered. "And then his eyes rolled back and he just slumped over."

Hermione's hands ghosted over Draco's body, first his wrist, then his neck before she checked his breathing and temperature.

"He's heated, but not in a feverish way. Looks more like a shock to me," she mumbled while she tried to pry his robe open to give him space to breathe.

"We need him to get off the cold ground and somewhere warm. Maybe even St Mungo's."

She ran her hand over his neck, feeling for a pulse before she raised her wand to cast some spells. Draco's eyes were fluttering and then he seemed to gain consciousness again. He groaned and tried to sit up and Hermione pressed a hand to his chest, preventing it.

"You have to lay back," she told him gently.

"No St Mungo's," Draco rasped and Hermione frowned.

"That's irresponsible, Draco," she scolded him. "Knowing your medical history."

"No, please," the blond started again and Hermione looked up at her friends helplessly.

"No St Mungo's," Draco repeated and Hermione reached for his hand to squeeze it. She nodded reluctantly.

"C-Cor..,"

"He's fine. He's asleep. He didn't see anything," Hermione reassured him and then sighed.

She looked up. "We should get him to Ron's. All my supplies are there."

"Do you think we can apparate?" Ron said and Hermione cast some more spells but then she nodded. "It's easier than to transport him back to the Burrow and then use the floo, quicker and cleaner. Ron and I will apparate with him. Harry, can you and Ginny bring Corvus over by floo?"

"Yes, of course," Harry nodded before he jogged over to Ginny, who was waiting with Corvus on the sidelines.

"We will bring all the stuff back and clean up," George said and Ron nodded before he leant down to take Hermione's other hand.

Hermione apparate them away and when they landed in Ron's living room, Draco groaned in pain and together they brought him over to the couch to put him down. She kneeled next to the couch while Ron stood next to it, looking a little helpless.

"Was he poisoned?" Ron asked confused as he watched how Hermione started to vanish the outer layer of Draco's clothes.

She shook her head. "Looks like a potion overdose to me. Or maybe a negative reaction between two different potions he took."

"I know he takes a potion because of the nerve damaging spell he was hit with during the Final Battle. His eyesight is affected and after he was released from Azkaban, we sent him to St Mungo's to be tested and they gave him his potion. I think he needs to take it weekly for the rest of his life."

Hermione stopped what she was doing, glaring up to Ron. "What do you mean after he was released?"

Ron blushed. "The Authorities refused to give him medical attention while he was a prisoner. If they had let him take that potion while he was in Azkaban already, then he probably wouldn't have any damages from the spell but because they refused and he had to live with it for a year, the spell was able to attack his eyes."

Hermione glared even more. "When Madame Pomfrey took care of him, she told me that the curse would never be gone completely from his body. It's not a spell, Ron, it's a curse! It's a horrible curse that slowly attacks your nerves and started to take away your senses until to a point where you won't have any control over your body anymore. The heart is the last organ the curse attacks but until that happens, you would have lived years in agony and pain. That's why Draco didn't even feel it when he was hit, the curse is working so slowly, it would have taken at least one to five years until he had died. But Madame Pomfrey was able to act fast, so even though she wasn't able to get it out of his system completely, she said that there was a potion which will keep the leftovers of the curse in place. If Draco wouldn't take the potion that they curse would still do its damage, it would be three times slower but it would still kill him in the end. The potion is the only way to ensure him a full life. I can't believe they refused to give it to him in Azkaban already. They knew he would be released in a year again."

Hermione was in rage and Ron watched her how she took care of Draco, casting cooling spells, making sure he was able to breathe freely while she kept track of his pulse and temperature.

He then frowned, "Wait, how do _you_ know about all this? I thought you stayed in Hogsmeade after the Battle? I never knew you went back up to Hogwarts."

Hermione was silent at Ron's words, the blush crept up her cheeks again and she was about to answer when Draco groaned and draw her attention again.

"Anyway, I know the potion that he's been talking reacts badly with a few select others. It could have caused this," she told Ron instead, hoping to distract him.

"What others?" Ron asked, leaning closer while he wasn't sure what he should do. Draco was looking paler than normal, pearls of sweat were gathering on his forehead while his eyes fluttered.

"They are only a handful and then just some simple rules that need to be followed. For example, every potion that contains fire seeds cannot be taken the same day the nerve potion is taken, between them needs to be at least two days, otherwise it could cause vomiting. Another one would be Ashwinder eggs. They are used in…,"

"Love Potions," Ron breathed and Hermione looked up surprised.

"Yes, actually. But only the combination of ashwinder eggs and powdered Erumpent horn together with the nerve potion could cause this shock. And they are not used for a love potion but for, uh," Hermione blushed slightly. "They are used for very strong and also illegal fertility potion."

"You are joking?" Ron asked, eyes widened.

Hermione shook her head. "There are normal fertility potions that feature ashwinder eggs, which can be bought at the apothecary. They just there to help with the baby wish, just give nature a little push if you get what I mean. But Erumpent horn is illegal and the fertility potion that is made with that is about ten times stronger than the other one. No wonder he was knocked out. Even without taking the potion for his nerves, he would have suffered from at least a high fever."

Hermione, who had conjured a cold cloth and had been wiping Draco's face while she had talked to Ron, glanced down at the blond interested. Because his condition was caused by potions, she couldn't give him another one. He would have to sweat it out, quite literally and under supervision, in case he really went into shock.

"Do you think he took it on purpose?" Hermione's question was more a whisper and she didn't dare to look up at Ron, who stared down at her surprised.

"I don't think he has a problem with being fertile if that's what you are asking," Ron said.

"Yeah, probably not," Hermione mumbled absently but then they were interrupted by the sound of the floo and a high-pitched wail.

"And here comes the evidence," Ron announced as he watched Harry and Ginny walk into the living room, a struggling and awake Corvus in their arms. As soon as the toddler spotted his father, he let out a wail and Harry, who had been carrying him, had to set him down.

Corvus ran over, tear-streaked cheeks glowing hot as she shook his father, trying to wake him up with his "Daddy! Daddy!"-sobs.

"It's alright!" Hermione tried to soothe him as well as she tried to prevent him from climbing up the couch and onto Draco. "You need to be careful! Your Daddy's hurt and he needs to sleep."

"He sleepin'?" Corvus asked, eyes full of big tears and Hermione nodded before she reached out to wipe his eyes and red cheeks.

"He's just really tired, you know. So, he went to take a nap," Hermione tried to lie together an explanation, which wouldn't upset Corvus any further. He had slept through the Quidditch incident, so he probably was just upset because he woke up and Draco wasn't here.

Corvus hiccuped but nodded, satisfied with Hermione's answer. She smiled at the boy gently.

"Why don't you go any sleep in my bed?" she said to Corvus, who looked warily from her to Ron. "And when you wake up tomorrow, your Daddy will be up as well."

"Yes, come on, mate," Ron said and Corvus put out his hand for Ron to take. Yawning and rubbing his eyes, he was led away by the redhead and Hermione sighed before she fell back on her calves, looking at Draco, who was still out cold.

"Is he alright?" Harry asked and Hermione nodded exhausting, giving them about the same explanation as she gave Ron before.

"Erumpent horn? Isn't that illegal?" Harry frowned after she was finished. It actually fascinated her to watch how he changed into Auror mode from one second to another.

"It is. Newt Scamander was the reason why they enacted the law in the late 80s. Before it was a common potion ingredient and is still available on the black market, unfortunately. You could compare it to ivory."

"But who would give it to him?" Ginny asked, leaning a little closer to get a peek at Draco.

"To put it bluntly; someone, who planned to sleep with him. What else would you need a fertility potion for?"

"So, his wife?" Ginny was confused and Hermione narrowed her eyebrows.

"Astoria?"

"Well, maybe it was just an accident!" Harry threw in, coughing awkwardly. Hermione was about to say something but Ron came back at the same moment.

"Okay, so he's in bed but he refuses to sleep alone. I will stay with him while Hermione, you need to stay with Draco. Oh, and can you write his mother?" Ron explained hastily. Hermione agreed nodding and Harry and Ginny said their goodbyes to Ron before he disappeared down the hallway again.

"We will go as well," Harry said after Ron was good. "Call me, if you need anything though."

"I will, thanks," Hermione smiled at them and after Harry and Ginny left through the floo again, she slumped back against the coffee table, sitting on the floor next to the table while she kept an eye on Draco. She gave herself another minute, making sure that Draco really was alright.

His temperature was a little too hot but other than that, he was fine. Conjuring a piece of parchment and a quill, Hermione quickly wrote a note to Narcissa before she went to find Ron's owl to send it off.

Making herself a tea after, she knew that she would spend the night out here in the living room, so she quickly went to her room to change into more comfortable clothes. While doing that, she noticed that Corvus and Ron were in his room and not in the guest room, which she occupied.

When she returned and went to grab her tea, she got startled as suddenly a house elf appeared next to Draco's side, fussing instantly over him.

"Oh Master, are yous alright?" the small elf whined as Hermione stepped closer. She recognised her as the elf from yesterday, who had been at the Burrow as well.

"Lueur, right?" Hermione asked and the elf nodded with big tears in her eyes.

"Oh Miss, what happens?"

"He was unable to tolerate a potion he took. Do you know what kind of potion he normally takes?"

The elf nodded, sneezing into her mint green dress. "Yes, ze Master takes ze potion for his eyes, Miss. Once a week."

"And did he take another potion, maybe?"

The house elf shrugged. "Lueur doesn't know, Miss."

"Could you maybe check if he drank something? Or see if you find anything in his room?"

"Of course, Miss. Lueur will look."

Hermione watched her disappear and with a sigh, she put the cup and the teapot on the coffee table before she settled on the other couch from which she was able to watch Draco closely.

A moment later, Lueur returned, a teapot in her hands. "Lueur found this, Miss. It was in ze Master's room but none of ze ozer elves put it zere."

Hermione took the teapot carefully from the elf's hand and lifted it close to take a sniff. Faintly, she could make out the ashy smell of the ashwinder eggs.

"How much did he drink of this?" she asked, weighing the pot in her hands. It was still half full and when Lueur told her that next to the pot there was a half-empty cup, Hermione breathed out in relief.

"He only must have taken a few sips from it, which is why he only felt dizzy and blacked out. If he had drunk the whole pot, it would have probably caused his heart to stop."

Lueur's eyes grew big and she stared at the teapot in disgust.

"He will be alright in the morning and Corvus is taken care off as well. You can stay if you want," Hermione offered the elf with a smile but she shook her head.

"No, ze Mistress waits ze information," Lueur answered and Hermione nodded understanding.

"Keep ze two Masters safe, Miss," Lueur said before she bowed in front of Hermione, then she was gone.

Hermione sighed once more before she turned towards Draco. He looked different when he slept and Hermione was taken back to the few days she had spent with him during the days after the battle. She didn't have a family to return to and the Weasleys had their own grief to handle and Harry was already with them, so Hermione thought it was best if she stayed behind at Hogwarts to help for a few days before she returned to the Burrow.

Neville was doing the same, despite having his grandmother. Hermione wanted to stay in Hogsmeade and help out there but after one day, the villagers told her that they would be handling it themselves and that she should instead help out in the castle.

There weren't many left, just a handful besides the teachers. Many wanted to go see their families first and many were injured and had to go to the hospital. There was a real clean-up and rebuild planned for later in the summer but the few who stayed wanted to do at least a little cleaning.

The teachers took care of the grounds and the forest while the others stayed at the castle to get all the debris out, seal holes, fix windows or walls and make sure that nothing would collapse suddenly.

First, Hermione thought to help Madame Pomfrey but she quickly realised that everyone, who needed medical treatment was at St Mungo's already and the only one left in the hospital wing was Malfoy.

Minerva McGonagall herself told Hermione that he needed to stay in the castle and that the Aurors wanted to arrest him, which was why he wasn't able to be transferred to the hospital. Madame Pomfrey would do the best she could to help him and then they would allow him to leave. Until then, he needed to stay.

Hermione felt quite bad about it. She had been there when he was hit by the nerve damaging curse. He had helped her and Ron to fight two Death Eaters but one had hit Draco with the curse. Because nothing obvious happened, they really hadn't thought about it.

Later on, after they had already won, they had searched the castle for strays or injured people, and that's when they ran into a scared group of Slytherins, who had fired slashing curses at them. One of them would have hit Hermione square in the chest if Draco hadn't pushed her away. He was hit in the side by the curse and when they brought him to Madame Pomfrey, she then detected that something else was wrong as well.

It was all quite a blur, first the battle and all the victims and then having Draco collapse and bleed all over her in the dungeons. She remembered faintly that the Aurors came to claim him and that McGonagall had freaked out and refused them entry to the hospital wing.

She had watched him sleep then as well. Lying on the hospital bed with dead-white skin, having lost so much blood and with a curse inside of him, which would never entirely leave him alone.

She remembered thinking that he didn't deserve that.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, she didn't even remember that she fell asleep.

Her teapot was still full and she hadn't even been able to finish her first cup before she must have snoozed away on the couch. A glance outside showed her that it was still dark, and another at the clock showed her that it was about five in the morning.

Hermione blinked and groaned, rubbing her burning eyes as she sat up yawning. She looked over to Draco when she was fully awake.

To her surprise, a pair of grey eyes stared back at her.

"Oh, you are awake?" she scrambled up to get a closer look.

"Almost," Draco rasped with a hoarse voice. "I woke up a few minutes ago. My head is killing me, though."

Hermione drew her wand, casting some diagnostic spells on him. "You still are a little feverish and your heart is racing. You must rest and drink a lot and then you should be fine by the end of the day. How are you feeling otherwise?"

"Weird. It's hard to describe. It's not pain but just kind of a tingle maybe?"

Hermione blushed a deep red. "Oh, it's normal to have this kind of um… craving. That's the whole purpose, right?" she laughed forced.

"What are you talking about?" Draco groaned.

"You had a potion intolerance, Draco. That's when..."

"When you take two potions and some of the ingredients clash, _I know_. I own a potion firm. I _am_ a potioneer."

Hermione huffed, suddenly feeling not so emphatic anymore. "Yes, well, next time think before you take a potion additional to your nerve potion."

"Bollocks, Granger. I don't take any other potion," Draco insisted, sneering at her in annoyance.

"Well, you did!" Hermione pointed towards the teapot Lueur had brought her. She had kept it to show the evidence to Draco in the morning. "That tea is laced with a fertility potion."

"What?!" Draco tried to sit up but he was too weak and he fell back into the couch with a groan. Hermione had another weird flashback towards him being in the hospital wing, lying in one of the beds while complaining that he needed to get up.

Hermione sighed, trying to calm herself down. It was like talking to a child!

"During the Quidditch match, you complained that you felt dizzy and then you fainted, developed a high fever and then went into minor shock. The Ashwinder eggs and powdered Erumpent horn in the fertility potion, which it appears you only took a few sips off, clashed with the nerve potion. When you were assigned a lifelong medical regimen, the hospital should have given you a list of potions and ingredients that you shouldn't be taking at the same time. The combination of Ashwinder eggs and the Erumpent horn is one of them and can only be found in this certain fertility potion, which is also illegal by the way. If you had taken the regular one from the apothecary, the one that only has ashwinder eggs in it, then you wouldn't have any bad reactions to it."

Draco just stared at her, completely baffled. He didn't speak, just looked at her.

The silence grew uncomfortable and Hermione started to get nervous. She looked everywhere but him, playing with her fingers in her lap. When he finally did speak up, she looked up to meet his eyes.

"I did not take any fertility potion," he sounded pained, almost betrayed when he said it.

"Well, someone put it into your tea, that's for sure."

"I can't believe that - that bint!" Draco was enraged, which surprised Hermione and she had to leap forward to grasp him by the shoulders to keep him from getting up once more.

"You need to rest. If you get up now, you will only get sick," she insisted and he complied but not before he struggled with her some more.

In the end, he sighed and fell back, one arm going up to cover his eyes.

Hermione stared at him, biting her lips while dying from anticipation. She was only able to keep herself from asking for a few seconds.

"Who would trick you into taking that potion? You were lucky, Draco! If you had drunk more than just half a cup, you'd be in the hospital right now and if you'd actually emptied that whole pot, you wouldn't be doing anything anymore."

Draco took off his arm to glance at her with tired eyes. He frowned. "Why didn't you bring me to the hospital?"

"Well, you asked me not too. And I'm a Healer, sort of, well, I made sure that you are fine."

"Thanks, Granger," Draco mumbled. "Really, I don't need for this to get out to the public right now."

"Don't worry," she smiled tightly.

Draco seemed to drift off then when he suddenly jerked awake. "But are you sure that it's only a fertility potion? Not a love potion or anything that might have, I don't know, bewitched me?"

"It's just the fertility potion, I'm sure," the brunette crooked her head, looking slightly confused. "Would you need a love potion then?"

She asked the question without thinking and only when she asked it, she realised how inappropriate it really was. What was she even doing?

Draco laughed dryly. "Right now? I'd rather die than come close to Astoria ever again!"

He said the name, Hermione had been thinking about the whole time. It had been kind of been implied before, especially because Harry and Ron had blamed it on Draco's wife a little bit too fast. She hadn't wanted to believe it, really.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Hermione answered instead of congratulating him on the wise choice to not trust Astoria. She had to bite her lower lip to keep herself from saying that last bit.

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, she's your wife, so that must mean that your marriage isn't as… ideal… as it was supposed to be. I'm sorry, that's not my place to say."

Draco sighed but waved her off. "It's alright, it's just, a lot happened in the past days, not just me realising that Astoria isn't who she's supposed to be. I mean, the fertility potion makes sense in some way, you wouldn't understand. But I have to admit that I did, in fact, underestimate her."

"Why would she try to well, get pregnant? In theory, someone, who'd taken this potion," Hermione pointed to the teapot, "I mean, a pregnancy would be definitely guaranteed. The regular one, they enhance and the chance is higher than without it but it's not a hundred percent guarantee."

"She's trying to save the marriage," Draco scoffed. "Or rather force it to be final."

"It's not final?" Hermione asked confused. "I mean, nothing is final. But I thought that making the actual step and marrying would prove that it's serious."

"Not in pureblood circles. Marriages aren't done out of love but out of benefits. Money, company fusions, rising in circles, all that. Every side of the family has claims, be it an heir or lifting the family image in general. We have contracts that need to be fulfilled. Just because I married Astoria, that doesn't mean that she has instantly full access to everything I own. There is a time frame where the marriage is tested, so to say. If it passes it, then the marriage is finalised. After that, not even a divorce is possible. Some use it to find out that they are not compatible and they end it before it's finalised. Sometimes, the woman lied about being able to have children but then it turns out that she can't get pregnant. Anyway, my marriage to Astoria wasn't arranged, I actually asked her but we have these contracts as well. My parents loved each other before any engagement and they had to go through it as well. It's just how it works," Draco sighed. "Our marriage, it's not ideal as you put it and I guess, Astoria realised it, too, so now she tries to ensure that she can stay."

Hermione had listened to him quietly. She had heard about these rules before. Molly had told her some bits and when she and Harry had visited Andromeda and Teddy, Hermione had been given access to a pureblood woman, who was raised the same way Bellatrix was and it had fascinated her. She had asked many questions, some of which she had wanted to ask Sirius as well. The Weasleys or Neville, they grew up different and they couldn't really answer her questions.

"Do you want her to stay?"

Draco met her eyes, desperation was visible in his.

"No," he finally admitted, more to himself than to Hermione. "No, I don't."

She nodded, realising that their conversation had taken a weird and intimate turn. "I'm sorry to hear that. Either way, it's nothing pleasant to go through."

"Yes, especially because I have to play along for another few months. And if I have to expect any more attacks like this one then that's going to be so much fun," Draco glanced to the teapot, his face contorting in disdain, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"So, if she gets pregnant now, then that would guarantee her to stay your wife forever?" Hermione wanted to know.

"Basically. We have three years until the marriage would be finalised. That depends on the family. Sometimes it's a year, sometimes a few months. The longest was five years I think. Our three-year mark is next year in July. But because of other things, I have to wait to annul the marriage," Draco explained.

"What about Corvus?" Hermione perked up. At her words, Draco seemed to realise as well that his son wasn't there and he tried to get up again but the witch calmed him down again, telling him that he was fine and asleep in Ron's room with Ron there to look after him.

Draco calmed down, obviously glad that Corvus was fine. After a while, he looked up again.

"What about Corvus?" he asked her then.

"Well, will he stay with Astoria then? In the Muggle world, when parents with young children divorce, the children usually stay with the mother."

"Oh, well," Draco didn't meet her eyes. "That's a different story."

Hermione frowned, not getting how Draco would so easily let go of Corvus. He loved the boy, so why wouldn't he fight for him?

"Oh," she finally said, understanding. "Oh, that must be awful."

Draco looked confused for a moment but then he realised the mistake she had made. The one conclusion everyone had made at first - that Astoria had planted a child on him that wasn't his.

"I have to go," the brunette witch suddenly scrambled up and without another word, she fled from the living room, leaving a bewildered Draco behind.

He looked after her, as good as he could from his position, realising that he hadn't been able to correct her mistake. He groaned, feeling still dizzy before his glance wandered to the teapot on the coffee table.

If Astoria had really tried to trick him into drinking that potion, it would have needed only one quick shag for her to get pregnant. Probably more effective than to try to chat him up every night.

"Such a damn Slytherin," Draco mumbled, feeling tired again. His eyes started to droop.

As he tried to remind himself that he should correct Hermione's wrong conclusion, he also realised how awfully chatty he'd been in the past hour. And if Astoria had started to play this kind of game, then he needed to be more careful. He couldn't have several people poke around and alarm Astoria even more.

His mother was right. He would have to play along until his father could get out of prison.

He couldn't risk it. He wanted Astoria gone and he wanted to keep Corvus safe and sound. Even finding Corvus' mother didn't seem to be so important anymore, not if it would risk Draco's chance of getting away from Astoria.

Maybe he should even call off Ron and Harry. And have them pretend that nothing happened.

And then, he could finally divorce Astoria.

And it would only be him and Corvus. Just the two of them.

Astoria wouldn't want Corvus but she would take him away to get back at him, Draco was pretty sure of that. She knew how much the boy meant to Draco. Proving that she wasn't the mother would probably ensure that he would gain custody.

But what if he found the real mother and then she tried to take Corvus away from him? What would it matter to go through the struggle with Astoria, just to have another woman come to take away his child in the end?

As much as it pained Draco to let it go.

In the end, it would probably be better not to poke a sleeping lion.


	13. Insecurity

**23rd of May 2017:**

 **PLEASE READ!**

I decided to post this again, in case someone has **MISSED** the last update! FF-net had some problems in the beginning of May and notifications had  not been sent out during those days.

I **UPDATED** Pure on the **8th of May**! Please make sure if you have read the chapter or not! I know many checked the stories, which they follow but maybe there are a few readers, who don't know about the glitch.

Here is a little overview, so you can control which chapter you already read and which you haven't yet! The best ist to read through the content and not let numbers and titles confuse you :D

 **POSTED/OLD:**

 **1\. Prologue:** Draco finds out Corvus' secret.  
 **2\. Prison:** Draco gets told he will be a father.  
 **3\. Tea:** Hermione meets Ron and Harry at the Leaky. *HERMIONE POV*  
 **4\. Birth:** Corvus is born.  
 **5\. Freedom:** Draco is released and sees Corvus for the first time.  
 **6\. Revelation:** Many scenes, Astoria and Draco's wedding, Theo and Blaise, at the end, Draco finds out about Corvus.  
 **7\. Doubt:** Draco does the paternity test, then goes to Ron to ask him to investigate.  
 **8\. Investigation:** Draco tells Ron about Astoria and her deception, Hermione walks out in the end.  
 **9\. Confusion:** Hermione talks to Draco and meets Corvus. *HERMIONE POV*  
 **10\. Handwriting:** Draco goes to St Mungo's with Ron, then to the Burrow to write wedding cards. At the end, Astoria tells Draco she wants another baby.  
 **11\. Tapestry:** Draco hides at his summer home from Astoria. Narcissa comes and they talk about divorcing Astoria. They have to wait for Lucius to be released. In the end, they go to see the tapestry at the Black house and find out that Corvus is a half-blood. Harry then invites Draco to play Quidditch. ***posted on April 4th***

 **CHECK IF YOU READ THIS:**

 **12\. Fertility:** The Quidditch game happens and Draco gets injured, Hermione is there to help him. *HERMIONE POV* ***posted on May 8th***

 **NEW:**

 **13\. Insecurity:** Harry and Ginny's Wedding! *current chapter*

* * *

*linebreak*linebreak*linebreak*

* * *

 **Hello everyone!**

 **I'm sorry for all the confusion with the last update! I'm still glad that it reached so many of you but I added the note above in case somebody has missed the last update! (So, if the FF-net glitch in May is new to you, then you probably should check out the previous chapter first)**

 **We did a little time jump from the last chapter and we are at Harry and Ginny's wedding now! It's a monster chapter, 11k, so I hope you are ready for this! We will move a little faster now but I still make sure to add a lot of details and to write out the scenes I want to write for this story :D**

 **Hope you like it!**

 _Disclaimer:_ ** _I don't own anything!_**

 **A big THANK YOU to all the people, who help me with this story:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **,** _throughhiseyes_ ** _,_** SKDMHG **,** _Sinful824_ **,** ** _and_** _Lady Evora_ **!**

 **Enjoy,  
Kia**

* * *

 **13\. INSECURITY**

 _Harry and Ginny Potter's Wedding, early January 2001_

* * *

Draco had no idea how he ended up with an invitation to Harry Potter's wedding.

But he did receive one and here he was, his present awkwardly in his hand while he observed all the loud and obnoxious people who weaselled - _haa_ \- around the tent and didn't sit down despite Molly Weasley demanding it for the third time already.

Finally, he spotted the small table, which was piled high with presents and Draco waltzed over while turning the envelope nervously in his hands. In the end, he squeezed the envelope between two obnoxiously huge presents. Both were wrapped in paper featuring small drawings of Harry and Ginny on brooms that flew around the paper until they met in the middle and from there went into complicated flying manoeuvres, which ended up looking like a heart.

"George made that one," Ron told him as he suddenly appeared next to Draco at the present table.

"Thought so, he asked me if he should make one for Corvus' upcoming birthday as well," Draco answered and turned towards the redhead, "I believe it's supposed to be a new product."

Ron nodded and then took a sip from his drink as they stood awkwardly next to each other.

"So, how's,"

"You know,"

They stared at each other surprised before Ron chuckled.

"So, how is everything?" He asked then.

Draco shrugged. "My wife hasn't tried to force me to have sex again if that's what you're asking. She's grown rather tame and started to fuss over Corvus, actually. The other day at breakfast, she even said that she wanted to take him to Diagon Alley."

Ron raised an eyebrow at that. "And you let her?"

"I had no real choice. If I start to make up excuses why Cor can't be alone with her, it might make her suspicious. Mother already latched onto the role of a grieving wife and has started to show Cor all these Malfoy things. I told Astoria that she misses Father and she believed it, so Mother takes Cor away to all our properties to get him out of the Manor under the pretence of being lovesick and I work the whole day, while Astoria does whatever Astoria does and it has worked for the past several weeks." Draco sighed. "But recently she has shown quite an interest in him. She actually babysits him tonight."

Ron chuckled at that and Draco looked up.

"What?"

"She babysits? You do realise that you have already cast her out of your life, right?"

"Well, she is a stranger in the end. And I only allowed it because Mother had to attend this charity dinner in Denmark and Astoria tried to spend the evening with me, so I decided to come here and leave Cor with her. Besides, Lueur is there anyway."

"So, you really gave it up then?" Ron wanted to know, scoffing a little.

"I guess," Draco reached up to run a hand through his hair. "It's just, there are still so many months left until May, I can't risk it."

After the incident at the Quidditch pitch, Draco had stayed for the remainder of the day at Ron's. Granger was somehow busy in her room and didn't show up again while Corvus and Ron had passed the time playing chess or at least Ron tried to play chess. Corvus just liked the shiny figurines and when he found out that they were ticklish, he spent the whole morning tickling the King until it was about to surrender of its own free will.

Draco had used the fact that Granger wasn't there to explain to Ron that he wanted to stop investigating Astoria for now. He had explained the whole divorce plan and that his hands were basically bound until his father was released from Azkaban. And after the fertility potion, he rather wanted Astoria to believe that everything was fine before she tried something else.

Ron had reluctantly agreed and promised to tell Harry as well. They still would listen around without actively asking questions and Draco had agreed to that. He had felt a little better afterwards and had promised himself to spend more time with Corvus as he felt he had neglected him recently after he found out about the secret.

Draco had returned to the Manor and had informed his mother as well, who in turn informed their lawyer. They still hadn't told Lucius and it was something Draco dreaded every day. They only had permission to visit him once a month and both he and his mother had used that for December at the beginning, right before Draco had found out about Corvus. Their lawyer had offered to go as he was allowed to visit more often but Draco and Narcissa had decided it was better if they told Lucius in person. They hadn't decided if they should do it in January or if they should wait even longer, knowing that the news would deeply upset their father and husband.

And somehow, Draco dreaded to tell his father that his grandson wasn't so pure-blooded after all.

Draco had also decided against telling Blaise and Theo but he had caught up with them one night between Christmas and New Year at the Leaky Cauldron. And as chance would have it, Harry and Ron had been around that night as well and the five of them had shared a table like they had that one night a few months ago. It had been rather nice and Harry had even invited Theo and Blaise to play Quidditch at some point. That night, Draco had also learned that Granger had returned to Australia in the meantime but would return for Harry's wedding. It made Draco remember that he still had to correct her mistake the next time he saw her.

A day later, Draco had received the invitation for Harry's wedding. At first, he decided against going but when the day came, his mother had left and Astoria was suddenly interested in spending time with him again, Draco had spontaneously decided to flee the Manor to go to the wedding after all. He just hoped that Lueur would make sure that everything was alright.

"Well, let me know when you want to pick it up again," Ron then said and Draco nodded in thanks.

"Anyway, I was sent to show you to your table. As you rsvp'd no but now showed up anyway, we had to improvise with the seating arrangement a little. It's not a problem really, we actually put bets that you would still show up, so we already had a backup plan. As best man, I have to sit next to Harry but we put you between George and Hermione. This will keep the nosy people away." Ron explained and pointed towards a round table close to the one where the bride and groom were sitting.

"Nosy people?" Draco asked.

"Some of the kids might have caught wind of the fact that you were in Azkaban, so you might have to prepare yourself if they want to see your Mark," Ron admitted sheepishly and Draco raised an eyebrow at him.

"Anyway, we put you next to George, so everyone who comes and asks you something inappropriate gets distracted by him and whatever WWW product he has stuffed his pockets with."

"That's alright," Draco said in the end and then Molly Weasley was suddenly standing next to them, scolding Ron for not helping her get everyone to sit down. Ron started to argue that he did exactly that and then the two of them left with Draco staring after them astounded.

In the end, he walked over to the round table, which Ron had shown him, alone. The tent was littered with these tables, at which eight people could be seated. Draco even recognised some of the other guests but he also noticed that most of them gave him rather suspicious looks.

He sighed and wanted nothing more than to ignore them but then-

"Draco!"

Draco stopped walking and turned around to see a flash of blue run into his legs. He looked down surprised and saw that Teddy Lupin was smiling up at him.

"Hey mate!" Draco said and crouched down at his level, examining the boy with a twinkle in his eyes. He was a few months older than Corvus but the two of them had met occasionally to play whenever Narcissa met with Andromeda for tea.

"Where's Cor?" Teddy asked with big eyes, looking around Draco.

"He's at the Manor," Draco answered and Teddy pouted. Now that Draco thought about it, he had completely forgotten that Teddy and his aunt would be here as well. He could have brought Corvus. However, picking him up now just to leave again, while forcing Astoria to stay behind alone, would be not only rude but suspicious.

"But you can come over soon and play again. In fact, Cor's birthday is coming up soon. How about we do something fun then?" Draco told Teddy, whose face instantly brightened up. A shadow fell over them and Draco looked up to see a rather grim looking man stare down at them in disapproval. Draco furrowed his eyebrows and was about to say something when he got interrupted.

"Draco, dear, I didn't you know you were invited," his aunt Andromeda made her way through the tables before she reached them scolding down at Teddy, who had obviously run away when he spotted Draco. Draco straightened while Teddy still hung at one of his legs and went to great his aunt with a hug.

"It was a rather spontaneous decision," Draco said and watched how his aunt tried to pry Teddy off his leg.

"Stanley, you've met my nephew, I see."

Draco turned towards the man, who turned out to be near his age, probably a little older. Draco was about to introduce himself but the man's look remained icy so he let his hand fall back against his side.

"I'll just go to my seat," Draco finally said, turning back to Andromeda, who smiled at him though it was forced. He leant forwards and kissed her cheek before he tousled Teddy's blue hair, which turned a pale Malfoy blond upon Draco's touch.

Draco smirked and then moved along to reach his seat. There were already a few people sitting at the table and Draco recognised Luna Lovegood with a lad who introduced himself as Rolf Scamander and Neville Longbottom with his date Susan Bones.

Draco sat down at his seat across from the other four people with two empty seats on either side. He managed to glance at the cards of his neighbours and knew that Granger was to his right and George to his left but he didn't manage to read further than that.

"So, Draco," Luna chirped with a dreamy voice. "How you are doing these days? Did you manage to get rid of the wrackspurts in your Manor? The last time I visited, I had a feeling that you had an infestation."

"Uhm," Draco wasn't really sure what to answer at that, considering that Luna's stay at the Manor surely couldn't be described as "visit" but the young woman didn't seem to notice it.

"I will get the house elves to it," he just said in the end.

Luna smiled brightly. "That's a good choice, they are brilliant at hunting wrackspurts."

Draco nodded and then exchanged looks with Longbottom, who had stared at Luna as if she was insane. Draco remembered that Harry had told him about asking Neville who stayed at Hogwarts after the battle but Draco hadn't done so yet, part because he wanted to give up searching for the truth for now and part because he felt slightly silly explaining to people how he couldn't remember with whom he had slept in the last year of the war.

His thoughts were interrupted by George and Angelina, who arrived at the table and took a seat on Draco's left. The pair complained about Ron literally pushing them away from the bar and escorted them personally to their seats when George and Angelina had left on their own accord.

"Mate, I knew you would show up. Harry so owes me and Ron money now," George said, clapping Draco on the shoulder before he sat down grinning.

"Yes, Ron, I know where my seat is!"

Draco looked up as he heard the distinguishable voice of Hermione Granger, who was standing close to the table with her hands on her hips while scolding Ron, who seemed to have sent her to sit down as well.

Draco's eyes widened a little as he spotted the bare back of the witch. She wore a backless dress in ice-blue and silver. Thin straps wound around her shoulder blades to hold the dress up in the front but other than that, her skin was exposed all the way down to her lower back where the dress started again and hugged her bum nicely. Draco noticed he was staring so he turned his back sharply, causing a crick in his neck.

He reached up to rub the sore spot and again glanced over to where Granger, no, Hermione was standing. Her curls were wrapped loosely together by silver wire with gleaming, silver stars spread through her mass of hair. It hung nearly to her hips, obscuring much of her spine, which in Draco's opinion was probably better. He narrowed his eyes as there was something familiar about her hair but his thoughts were interrupted. The bloke from before - Stanley, as Andromeda had introduced him - appeared next to Hermione and wrapped his arms tightly around her hips, pressing her against his side.

Draco could see how Ron started to frown deeply as the man told him something and then he turned Hermione around and walked her to the table. Ron stared at them angrily and Draco could see that the brunette's cheeks were flushed a deep red.

"Here comes Mr Perfect," George jabbed Draco's ribs with his elbow and Draco just looked over to the redhead to see how he rolled his eyes in disdain. A glance around the table showed that everyone had started to frown, besides Luna, but they all forced a smile when Hermione and her obvious date had reached the table.

"Hey, every… oh Draco, I didn't know you were here," Hermione said and Draco looked up to see how she brushed a dark curl behind one ear. She looked even more stunning from the front.

"Yes, I showed up half-way through the ceremony, so I stayed back and then joined in for the reception," he explained for the tenth time probably and Hermione nodded at him with a smile.

"Oh, yes, well, this is Stanley, he's my… uhm…,"

"Date, sweetheart," the man laughed and then stretched his hand out, which Draco eyed suspiciously. Before with Andromeda, Draco had tried to give him his hand but the bloke had refused and now he was suddenly all for it?

"Stanley Cooper."

Draco took his hand quickly, gripping it tightly before he released it, saying nothing.

"Uhm, Stan, this is Draco, he's a former -," Hermione looked around helplessly. It was clear to Draco that she struggled to place him into the group, so Draco cleared his throat.

"Schoolmate. I went to Hogwarts as well," Draco answered to help her and Hermione nodded turning around to smile at them all tightly. She received cold glares as an answer.

"Well, you must have something important to do then, if you can't even show up for the wedding on time," Stan forced a laugh, trying to make it sound as a joke but everyone at the table understood that he had meant it like he had said it.

Draco bit back a retort and just nodded tightly as he made some space for Hermione to sit down next to him. He watched her smooth the sleek fabric of her dress on her lap before he looked back up.

The silence that followed was uncomfortable and it was Hermione, who broke it and she did it by turning towards Draco. "So, where's Corvus?"

"At home," Draco answered. "With Astoria."

Hermione looked surprised at that and Draco swore he could see something glinting in her eyes but it was gone and she nodded tightly. "So, everything's alright then? In your marriage?"

Draco had no clue what she pronounced it like that but he understood when he looked past her and saw that her date was staring at him angrily. He looked surprised when he heard the fact that Draco was married and his glance wandered towards Draco's hand but besides the Malfoy signet ring, there was no trace of a wedding band. It was something Draco had refused to wear, he had his ring and he had let Astoria choose hers, so everyone was happy in the end.

"Depends on you who ask, I guess," Draco answered tightly as well, confused why she seemed angry with him.

She opened her mouth but then the first course appeared and they all started to get quiet, so Ron could make his speech, followed by Ginny's bridesmaid, a girl, Draco knew went to Hogwarts but whose name he couldn't remember. After that, everyone was busy with eating and everyone at their table seemed happy that they had something to do. Besides Luna, who told everyone that she believed that some creatures were lurking outside the tent and that's why she couldn't go to use the ladies room for the rest of the night, everyone else was quiet.

When the first course was finished and they had nothing to do anymore, Neville was the one who broke the silence again. And he addressed Draco as well.

"Your school supplies have arrived over the holidays and everyone's excited to introduce them to the students when they return in a week. Slughorn was beside himself when he first saw all the new stuff and I have to say that my greenhouses will greatly benefit from them as well. I didn't even know you are part of the school board until Minerva showed up with all the new supplies in my office."

Draco smiled slightly. After his release from Azkaban, he had received the owl from the Headmistress and he knew that she only asked him because they needed funds and he was the only one with enough money to supply them. He had accepted and had sent her a large amount of money but she refused to accept all of it and sent some back, so he had invested the return in new school supplies instead and in the end, she had to accept the full amount after all.

"My father was part of the board and they asked me to step in, considering that most of the other members were Purebloods and half of them are dead or imprisoned. I was surprised that they asked me, considering that I never even finished my education."

George was about to high-five him on the last comment when Hermione interrupted.

"You never re-took you NEWT's?" She sounded scandalised and George leant over to whisper with the roll of his eyes.

"Don't worry, she said the same thing to me and Fred all. the. time."

Hermione, who had heard that frowned deeply at George and Draco chuckled before he turned back to her again.

"No, but in the end, it didn't really matter," Draco shrugged. They didn't exactly offer summer class in Azkaban and after he was released he immediately took over Malfoy Apothecaries and there was no need to sit through his NEWT's, according to him.

"That must be hard!" Standley interrupted and Draco suppressed the urge to groan.

"What do you mean?" Draco drawled annoyed.

"A friend of mine dropped out of school and he still struggles to find a real job, hardly gets by each month."

"Yes, it's hard sometimes," Draco answered, making sure to pause dramatically. He sighed. "But I think I'll manage."

Neville across from him had to stuff his napkin in his mouth to keep himself from laughing. Luna was copying Draco's serious face and nodded gravely and Rolf next to her just looked amused by the whole thing. George choked next to him while Hermione gave him a disapproving look.

"Speaking of work, mate," George leant closer and Draco ignored Stanley, who looked confused and hadn't understood what was so funny about Draco's former comment.

"I heard you want to sell your headquarters in Diagon Alley."

"Where did you hear that?" Draco frowned.

"In your cafeteria."

"What are you doing in my cafeteria?"

"Eating lunch," George answered as if it was obviously.

"Only people with a badge can eat there, how the hell can you eat there?"

"I have a badge," George puffed out his chest.

"You have an employee's badge for my company?"

"I don't want to walk down to Diagon Alley for lunch all the time, so I made friends with the lady in charge. She likes me and gave me a badge."

"That's unbelievable!"

"Awww, I can't help that people fall for my charm! But anyway, so Trace from HR told me that Nott hinted that you might want to sell the building. And if you do, then I'd be highly interested as I need more space next to my warehouse. I'm thinking to expand and I'll need a bigger office area then."

"So you want me to sell it to you? After you just told me that you stole food from me?"

"It's just three or four lunches a week, calm down!" George waved him off. "Why do you want to sell it anyway."

"I don't, actually. But I would rent it out," Draco explained to him. "Theo and I bought some land and we plan on building the Headquarters there. It would be big enough to add a production site with greenhouses. We would finally grow some ingredients on site rather than import them. It's been in planning for about a year now. We recently spoke with St Mungo's and we will contact Hogwarts as well. We want to be a regular supplier of ingredients and potions. Slughorn even went as far as suggesting an excursion with the sixth and seventh years to the grounds. We will have to see about that but the bigger building would certainly help as well as keep unwanted guests away from our cafeteria food."

"You would supply St Mungo's? As in their research facility?" Hermione inserted and Draco nodded.

"Yes, the research facility and the potion's lab but it's all in theory at the moment, as I said, we are still in the planning phase."

"Are you looking for investors?" Stanley asked and Draco didn't know if it was an offer, an insult or genuine interest. He settled at a mix of the former two in the end.

"No, we finance it ourselves," Draco answered shortly.

Stanley raised an eyebrow. "That's quite the task if you have limited funds."

"Who said we have limited funds?" Draco retorted confused and the tension at the table started to rise until Teddy suddenly showed up and squeezed himself between Hermione and Draco.

"Uncle Draco, can you read me?" The toddler held up a thick book and Draco groaned slightly. He hated that book and he cursed his mother for ever finding it between his old stuff and giving it to Teddy that one time he was over. It was some story about a dragon and someone told the kid that Draco's name meant dragon. This caused Draco to now be forever stuck with impersonating the main character of the story, a golden dragon, who's been cast out by his flock for being different and was now travelling the world and experiencing one adventure after the other. Unfortunately, Corvus had taken a liking to the story as well and somehow, Teddy managed to bring the book wherever he went. Draco was just glad that it was gone from the Manor and that Corvus only saw it when Teddy was over.

"Really?" Draco asked and looked around to see if his aunt was somewhere close.

"I can read it to you, kid!" Stanley boomed but Teddy just gave him a strange look. He shook his head, his hair turning from blue to blond again.

"No, Draco's the dragon!" He demanded and Draco sighed but then he skidded his chair back a little to gently grasp Teddy and pull him onto his lap. "Just until the second course, alright?"

Teddy smiled brightly and nodded before he pressed the book into Draco's chest.

"Bloody book, I wished my mother had never given it to you!" He muttered under his breath and he opened the book at random. It contained many short stories and every adventure ended with the dragon giving one of his golden scales to a new-found friend of his, who had helped him through the adventure.

"The one in Island!" Teddy clapped his hands, knowing the book by heart now. Draco didn't doubt that he forced other people to read it to him as well.

"It's Iceland," Draco said and to his shame, he knew exactly where that story in the book was. His father had read it to him as a boy and used magic to recreate the scenes in Draco's room while he was in bed. It was the same spell he used to create the dragon, which Draco had liked to chase and it was the same spell his mother used now to create a raven for Corvus.

"With magic!" Teddy demanded though Draco wanted to start reading quietly. He groaned again but then reached into the inside of his suit jacket to pull out his wand. After that, he did the mistake of pushing his sleeves back, having Teddy giggling at his pretended preparation. Draco heard the sharp intake of breath to his right and he was momentarily distracted as he looked up at that.

Pushing back his sleeves had resulted in showing not only half of the Dark Mark but also all the other scares which littered his skin. They normally were easily overviewed but in the blue-ish light of the winter-themed wedding, the scars stood out white against his skin and were obviously visible.

Draco wanted to say something but Teddy pulled at his jacket and he focused back on the toddler, who didn't seem to care. Draco knew that the sound had come from Hermione's date, who they obviously had forgotten to inform with whom he was sharing a table.

"Alright, Iceland! What happens in Iceland again?" Draco playfully asked and then waved his wand to conjure a miniature golden glowing dragon.

"The volcano!"

"Right, right!" Draco waved his wand again and conjured a whole miniature landscape, making the dragon circle around an orange bubbling volcano, which hissed and steamed. He started to read, Teddy having to lean in to understand what he was saying and Draco thankfully noted that George leant away from him to start a discussion with Neville. It was Hermione, who started to lean in closer to them, listening fascinated to what Draco was reading to Teddy.

They were halfway through when the next course appeared and Draco closed the book with a snap, causing the magic to end. Teddy pouted but Draco reminded him with a stern look about his promise. But then, Teddy refused to go back to his seat and he wanted to eat while sitting in Draco's lap. Andromeda tried to come over to get Teddy but Draco decided that it was fine in the end and so Teddy happily sat on his lap, eating Draco's potatoes while Draco tried to manoeuvre around him to get to his meat.

"That requires some skill, mate," George commented after Draco managed to get a bite of in gravy covered meat into his mouth without having it drip on him.

"Try to do it one-handed with a screaming baby in your arm," Draco retorted grinning. "My mother would have a fit if she saw this. It goes against any etiquette."

They finished up the course and Andromeda came over to tell him that she and Teddy would leave after the dessert so Draco used the time in between to finish reading the story to Teddy. After he was finished, he gave Teddy the book and then sent him back to his grandmother, just in time for dessert to arrive.

"That was nice of you," Hermione told him with a quiet voice making Draco look over at her in surprise.

"He's a good kid," Draco nodded and then sighed. "Whenever he's over at the Manor, you can see how much he's drawn to me. I'm sure Potter experiences the same thing. He misses his parents and as much I would like to spend more time with him, Corvus grows quite jealous whenever Teddy takes up all my time but I would feel bad if I snuck out without him to spend time alone with Teddy."

Hermione nodded and then snickered.

"What?" Draco asked.

"You called Harry 'Potter' again, still struggling, I see,"

Draco smiled. "Well, I need to get accustomed to it first, Hermione,"

The brunette smirked back, as she had remembered their conversation at the Burrow as well.

"'Mione, would you like to dance?" Stanley leant closer, obviously trying to break up their conversation. Draco noticed how one of his hands had settled at Hermione's lower back provocatively and when Draco looked up, he saw how Stanley smirked back at him arrogantly.

Draco just raised his eyebrows at that.

"Oh, Stan, I need to talk to Ginny real quickly," Hermione retorted, pushing her chair back and causing Stanley to let go of her. "I'll be right back."

She scrambled to stand then hoisted up her dress before she wove around to tables to reach the one for Harry and Ginny. The bride's seat was empty and Draco watched how Hermione talked to Harry, who shrugged and then pointed towards the exit of the tent. Hermione nodded and moved on.

Draco looked over to see that Stanley was staring at him angrily, so Draco chuckled before he rose from his seat with all of the elegance that had been drilled into him from a young age. If he knew one thing, it was how to act superior to others.

"That must be hard," he leant closer to Stanley, voice dripping with venomous sarcasm as he copied Stanley's earlier words to him. "To not know when one's date is completely into dating you and when she is not."

Draco left the table, hearing snickers from the others but he refused to look back as he made his way over to the bar. As dinner was over, many were getting up from their seats now to talk to somebody else or to dance in the middle. As Draco reached the bar, he saw that Ron was standing there as well, emptying what looked like his fourth glass of firewhiskey.

"What happened to you?" Draco asked as he ordered one for himself.

"My Mum," Ron retorted, "she wouldn't leave me alone, thinks because I'm best man, I have to do everything. There are four other siblings of Ginny's around and she doesn't even think about asking one of them!"

"Cheers to that," Draco said as he received his drink, raised it and then emptied it in one go.

"What did you tell _Stanley_ before you left the table? He looked ready to kill you," Ron saluted as well and ordered another round for them.

"Who even is he?" Draco replied but refused to look over at the table as if he and Ron were two gossiping girls.

"Hermione met him in Australia, he went to the same Healer training as she did, I think. She had mentioned him before, said that he always wanted to take her out on a date but she refused. I think, she slowly wants to get back into dating now, and because he never let go, she finally agreed on a date and invited him to this wedding. Wrong move, if you ask me. He's absolutely dreadful!" Ron rolled his eyes.

"What stopped her from dating in the first place?" Draco asked instead.

"Hmm? Who? Ohh, Hermione! I don't know, she wouldn't say but Harry and I guessed that she was too stressed about her parents to waste her time with blokes. And Hermione being Hermione, she probably felt bad about ignoring Stanley and his million tries to date her for almost a year, so I guess she wanted to make it up to him. I don't - oh bollocks, there's Mum!" Ron hissed before he emptied his glass and then disappeared before his mother could reach him.

Draco shook his head and then grabbed his glass before he started to venture out of the tent and into the cool night air. As it was January, the tent was heated inside and once outside, the cold winter air would instantly sober someone up again. Draco cast a warming charm around himself before he started to walk around, sipping occasionally at his firewhiskey.

His thoughts wandered to Astoria and Corvus. He had to urge to leave immediately to see if everything was alright but he had put in trust in Lueur and in Lune and he knew that they would come and get him if something was wrong.

Putting one hand in his pocket, Draco continued to stroll through the night, the faint sounds of the party heard in the distance. The tent had been erected on the field behind Harry's house and Draco could see the Burrow in the distance. He remembered that Harry had told him that he bought the land next to the Burrow and that Ginny and he had built their home there. It wasn't exactly next-door but it was in walking distance and Draco guessed that it was the longing for a family, which had caused Harry to want to stay this close to the Weasleys.

Walking towards the quaint but still large house, Draco spotted two shadows sitting huddled together on the steps of the veranda on the backside of the house.

The moonlight reflected on both the white and the light blue dresses and he instantly knew who was sitting there, heads together.

He debated if he should move closer but his manner made him turn around and leave them with their privacy when he heard his name being called out.

"How did you know it was me?" He asked as he stepped closer. The house was lit and the light fell on the two girls, illuminating them from behind.

"You hair shines even in the dark and I know of nobody else who has more impeccable posture than you," Hermione answered him with a smile.

As Draco finally came to a stop in front of them, he looked down to see that Ginny was sitting next to Hermione, looking lost with her head on the brunette's shoulders and her hands in her lap. He noticed how the two of them were shivering and he expanded his warming charm to include them.

They instantly relaxed as the heat hit them and Hermione smiled up at him thankfully.

"How can I be of assistance?" He then asked, knowing that he had been called with a purpose.

"Ask him!" Hermione told Ginny, giving her a slightly push.

The redhead looked up, her eyes teary. She hiccuped. "What if… in theory, what if you just got married and then your wife comes to you and tells you something really important, how would you react?"

Draco furrowed his brows. "That depends on the news. If the news would be that the wife had just cheated, then I guess I would be very angry but if she would tell me that she's, I don't know, pregnant for example, I would be happy. And I know that if I were Potter, then I would be very happy!"

"What?" Ginny looked up and wiped her eyes. "I didn't… oh bloody hell, how do you know?"

"I saw you dump your drink into one of the plants earlier," Draco told her smirking. "And when you forced me to write your invitation cards, I knew something was up. Plus you keep cradling your stomach, it makes it quite obvious."

"So, you agree that telling Harry tonight is the right thing to do, right?"

"Actually," Draco said, taking a sip of his drink, "when I left he was quite drunk already and I'm pretty sure if you tell him now, he will tell everyone."

Draco shrugged. "So, I'd wait."

Ginny looked helpless from him to Hermione, who continued to rub her back.

"Don't you go on a honeymoon tomorrow?" Draco asked then and Ginny nodded, telling him through her hiccuping that they would go to Italy.

"Then tell him there," Draco suggested. "There you are alone and can get accustomed to the idea. If you tell him now, you will regret it, trust me."

"Yes," Hermione agreed with him. "You said that you wouldn't want your family to know yet and Draco's right. If you tell him tonight, he will freak out and tell it every single guest. You told it to me and you sort of told it to Draco, so enjoy tonight and then tell Harry when you are by yourselves in Italy."

Ginny nodded again and wiped her eyes before she let Hermione fix her make-up by magic. "You are right, I will do that! I will have to be more careful, though, I've been giving all my drinks to Ron tonight." Ginny giggled and Hermione tuned in.

"He was pretty sloshed," the brunette giggled and then leant back when Ginny looked perfect again. "There you go, now go back and have fun! Don't worry too much, Harry will be thrilled once you tell him, I know it. I mean, even Draco knows that!"

"Yes," Ginny smiled at both of them before she gathered her dress and walked back to the tent. Draco looked after her and saw that Harry was standing by the exit already, looking for her. When Draco turned back to Hermione, he heard her sigh.

"I've been wondering what was going on with her and when I found her crying here, I knew something was wrong," Hermione slid over, making some space but Draco kept standing, his drink in one hand while the other was still in the pocket of his trousers.

"I wouldn't call it wrong," he answered. "There's nothing wrong with children, I'd know."

Hermione smiled tightly, wrapping her arms around her despite the warming charm.

"I know," she answered quietly.

"Drink?" Draco asked, holding out his tumbler and Hermione looked at it surprised but in the end, she reached out and took the glass from him to take a big gulp.

"I promise it's not poisoned," Draco joked and she choked.

He laughed as she gave him a glare but then she smiled slightly as he finally moved and sat down next to her on the steps.

"Your date doesn't like me much, but then, half of the guests don't, so I can't blame him," Draco admitted and Hermione snorted, taking another sip of his drink.

"Don't worry, he doesn't really like me, either."

He turned his head surprised. "He seemed all over you."

"He's all into the idea of me. I guess because I turned him down so many times, he started to expect me to be absolutely perfect and that's why he never stopped asking me out. On the first day of training, he asked me out and I said no, that I wouldn't date at the moment. The next day, he asked again and I said no again. He has asked about two times every month since then and somehow, I ended up agreeing that once I would date again, I would at least give him a chance because of his persistence. When I got the invitation to the wedding, he came to my mind first and I made the mistake of actually asking him. You know that I flew back over Christmas and New Years. He came back with me two days ago. He's been all over me since we left Australia and all he does is tell me how to do things. 'No, you really don't consider doing this, 'Mione, do you?'," she mocked with a voice dripping with disdain.

"He's been so annoying and tries to make me fit his expectations, which he must have built over the months of me refusing to date him. And every time I'm not how he pictured me, he tries to make me feel guilty for making him believe otherwise. He's just a guest and yet, he commands everyone around him. He's rude to Ron and Harry but especially Ron and he even talks down to Ginny. I wish I could just send him back to Australia," she emptied the glass in one go.

"Then why don't you?" Draco asked and she shrugged.

"Guilt, I guess. I feel like I owe him or something."

"That's a stupid reason, he's an arsehole!" Draco exclaimed and she giggled at his words.

They grew quiet after that, enjoying the view in front of them, the voices and music coming from the tent. Hermione put the empty tumbler down on the steps between them before she looked over.

"How have you been doing, Draco?" She asked with a quiet voice.

"Good, I mean," Draco started but she shook her head.

"No, I mean after the war, how have you been doing after the war? I saw the scars when you pulled your sleeves back and I know that you had problems with your right leg, as it started to cramp up from the nerve damaging curse. Ron told me that you have only started to take the potion after Azkaban and that your eyesight suffered."

Draco stared at her surprised. "How do you know that?"

"I was there when Madame Pomfrey did all the diagnostic spells and I visited you once but you tended to forget a lot of things then. Madame Pomfrey said that you probably wouldn't remember much of the days you spent in Hogwarts after the Battle was over. It was about four days, right?" Hermione asked and Draco nodded.

Then he perked up. "You know, I actually don't remember those days. I remember the battle and how it ended and then how we went to the dungeons to find students, who might have hidden or were injured and then I was hit by that slashing curse. After that it's just blank until the days I was kept in the Ministry cell to await my trial. I was told a few things but I have no clue if they are right or wrong."

"I'm sorry to hear that but it's not like something important happened, I mean you just laid in bed the whole time."

Draco bit his lip to keep himself from saying anything. Instead, he changed the topic and was reminded of what he wanted to talk to her about since the incident with the fertility potion.

"You know, I actually wanted to correct something with you. I think you misunderstood something in regards of Corvus and him being my son," Draco said and Hermione met his eyes surprised.

She didn't say anything and so Draco continued. "You know," he laughed forced. "I had the idea that you thought that he isn't my son and that Astoria had tricked me into believing that he is."

Hermione furrowed her brows and Draco had the feeling that she suddenly started to get angry.

"So, she didn't trick you then?"

"What? No, I mean Corvus is my son, I did a paternity test and everything."

"Oh,"

They were quiet for a while, both looking up at the stars.

"I'm sorry."

Draco turned his head at Hermione's voice. He raised his eyebrows questioning.

"What are you talking about?"

She shrugged absently. "I don't know, I feel like I've not been nice to you tonight. And for accusing your wife to have done such a thing."

Draco snorted but then smiled slightly. "Well thanks, Granger. But don't worry, your unfriendliness won't keep me up at night. And my wife is far from perfect, I guess you still remember that she tried to poison me a few weeks ago."

"I'm glad to hear that and yes, I do remember," she smiled at him, her fingers played with one strand of her hair, wrapping the curl around her finger. "And it's Hermione."

"Right, my apologies. You know, didn't we make peace before the final battle? That's actually another thing that I still can remember."

"We did," she smiled. "When your family came to the Order."

"So, we are good, alright?"

"Alright…," she stopped, biting her lips while she looked over at Draco, who was looking up at the stars again. "Draco, there is something I need…,"

"You know," he started, interrupting her and she let him.

"When I was in Azkaban I had time to think about a lot of things, and you have no idea how often I relived my life, finding things that I would have changed or done different," he turned his head to look at Hermione, who looked down at her hands.

"The things I was told, which I believed, I wish I would have figured out sooner how wrong they were. That I would have treated you differently. I mean, even Potter and Weasley aren't that bad," he smirked, using their last names on purpose.

She looked at him with warm eyes, reaching over to grasp his wrist. He looked down at his arm before he looked up again to meet her eyes.

"You know, you told me the exact same words after the battle when I came to visit you at the hospital wing," she told him grinning. "Except the part about Harry and Ron and you weren't in prison back then but the part about reliving your life is the same."

He looked startled. "Really?"

"Yes," she nodded. "We talked a little before you went back to sleep again and you basically told me the same thing."

"Oh," he frowned, narrowing his eyes in concentration. "I can't remember."

"I know," she looked at him sadly. "Like you said, the counter spells and potions for the nerve-damaging curse caused some memory loss. You were pretty much out for the four days, except for a few clear moments."

Draco looked away, knowing exactly that those clear moments had been his downfall. He obviously must have had more than one visitor at that time and unless someone had taken advantage of his unconscious state, he must have consented to sleep with whoever Corvus' real mother was.

Hermione chewed on her lower lip nervously, glancing over every now and then while Draco was deep in thoughts. She pulled her hand away from his arm making him look up.

"It's nice what you did for Astoria," she finally said.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, when she was pregnant, you chose her and didn't push her away."

"How do you know that now?" He frowned.

Hermione looked down at her hands again. "Ron told me. I'm sure that it wasn't an easy decision, being in prison and then told that you will be a father soon. It's not like between Ginny and Harry. That one might not have been planned either but their situation is definitely better and different."

Draco sighed. "Well, knowing about the baby, I don't know. It made the future much brighter than the past with its darkness and all the pain and death. I grew attached to it the moment Astoria told me about being pregnant," he grew silent before he continued. "I mean, first I was suspicious of course, but after a while," he shrugged and trailed off.

"I'm finally able to understand my father. I never believed him when he said he became a Death Eater to protect the family but now I do," he suddenly admitted and Hermione looked over surprised.

"But I also understand why you felt like you owed Stanley like you said. I felt that too, towards Astoria. I fell in love with the idea of having a son and I felt like I owed her something for giving him to me, so I asked her to marry me. Only in recent weeks have I started to realise how much of a mistake that was but then again, I got Corvus this way. I don't know what would have happened if I had just sent her away."

Hermione nodded absently.

"I was actually wondering," Hermione then started nervously. "And this might sound quite rude but I was wondering if you would have done it for anyone?"

"Done what?"

"Been nice if they told you they were pregnant?"

He looked startled but shrugged. "I guess."

"Even if the child was a halfblood?"

Draco looked at her surprised. "What are you on about?"

"Nothing, I just…I thought that because Astoria is Pureblood, then Corvus was even more attractive to you as your heir and all," Hermione blushed.

"Granger?! What do you know which I don't?" He asked suspiciously.

She shook her head and got up then, wanting to go back to the tent but Draco leant forward and grasped her wrist to stop her. She stared at his hand before she lifted her eyes to look at him.

"What are you on about?" Draco asked firmly, his grip tightening.

"I'm sorry, Draco, I don't know what overcame… I'm sorry," she repeated, tugging at her arm until Draco let go of her reluctantly. She stepped out of his warming charm and immediately hugged herself tightly.

"Gra… Hermione…" Draco began, getting up as well now.

"Nothing, it's just silly. I feel like I wasted some years in Australia and now that I will be back, I get swamped with all these feelings. First the wedding and then Ginny told me about being pregnant and then Stanley turned out to be a git and I don't know. I guess I just wanted to hear you admit that something is wrong with your life as well," she laughed painfully and then reached up to wipe her eyes.

"Oh, you have no idea!" Draco said and he stepped closer to get her back into the warming charm again. She looked up and blinked as he reached out to grasp her shoulders, his fingers brushing against the silver straps of her dress.

"Besides, I just told you that my marriage to Astoria was a mistake," Draco said, knowing that there was even a bigger mess behind it but looking into Hermione's sad eyes kept him from saying more. "And you didn't waste years in Australia, you went to find your parents, which you did. You got an education at the same time and trust me when I tell you that nothing big happened in Britain while you were gone. Look at me, I spent a year in prison and did absolutely nothing, I have no NEWTs, as you so kindly reminded me earlier, and I'm planning to divorce my wife to become a single dad and I'm not even twenty years old! Please don't cry, Granger!"

Hermione giggled and she wiped her eyes and he continued to shake her slightly at the shoulders. He grinned at her amused.

"Please, Malfoy, like you need the NEWTs! You have enough money to not work a single day for the rest of your life. And your great-great-grandchildren probably still wouldn't have to work, either."

"No," he gasped. "Who told you that I'm rich? That destroys my whole leverage of coming across like a hard-working lad!"

The brunette witch laughed out loud now. "You did! In the first year, every single day!"

"Oh right, guess I didn't understand the concept of flirting back then!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Flirting?"

"Like you didn't notice how handsome I look in this suit!" He let go of her and stepped back slightly, giving her the opportunity to look at him.

"You mean the suit that screams spoiled, rich brat that gets all his stuff custom tailored?" She put her hands on her hips.

Draco shook his head before he stepped closer again, tilting his head downwards before he was able to whisper in her ear. "And all that from the woman who nearly turned more heads than the bride!"

Hermione gasped. "That was rude!"

"Oh, I believe it was a compliment!"

"I'm not quite sure about that!"

"But you know what you can be sure about?" Draco offered her his arm and she grasped it, still giggling.

"What?"

They started to walk back towards the tent and Draco looked down at her. He smiled as he watched how she pushed a tendril back behind her ear again, the silver stars in her hair glinting in the moonlight.

"Your date is real shite. No bloke in his right mind wouldn't come looking to find where you are after you've been gone for such a long time," Draco told her with a frosty voice, obviously disapproving of Stanley's lack of interest.

"Maybe he found someone better," Hermione said hopefully and Draco scoffed.

"I doubt it," he answered and before she could ask what he meant, they had reached the tent and Draco let go of her arm to lead her inside by the small of her back. The music was loud and people were celebrating and dancing. Hermione knew that Draco wouldn't be able to understand any of her words if she tried to talk to him.

As soon as they made two steps inside, Ron suddenly appeared out of nowhere, completely pissed and he grabbed Hermione by the hand to pull her to the dance floor. Draco let her go and laughed as she looked back pleadingly. He shrugged sheepishly and smiled helplessly at her.

And then he watched how she disappeared amongst the other guests, leaving him standing alone by the entrance of the tent.

"You look determined!"

Draco turned around at the voice and to his surprise, found Neville standing next to him, glass in his hand. He raised it in salute.

"Just thinking about things," Draco answered and looked around the room again.

"You know, you were gone awfully long, so was Hermione. That Stanley bloke nearly blew his marbles searching for her," Neville grinned as he stepped closer. "Never thought I say this, but good job of keeping her away from him. He's a git!"

"It wasn't intentional but I agree with you - he is," Draco frowned and then turned his head to look at his former schoolmate.

"Harry wrote me a few weeks ago that you might contact me because of something, yet you never did. Did everything work out then?"

"No, not really. I planned to contact you but something happened and I decided to let things be after that." Draco sighed. "But now I'm not so sure if that was a good idea."

"Well, you are still welcome to contact me, Malfoy. I have to admit, I was a little surprised when Harry told me you were invited tonight but Ron suddenly speaks quite highly of you, so I guess, it's time to bury the hatchet." Neville extended his hand and Draco looked startled for a moment, then he accepted.

"Yes, I believe so, too."

They didn't really talk much after that, just stood next to each other while watching the other guests dance. Draco fought an inner battle with himself, knowing that this could be the time to ask Neville but then he reminded himself that he had wanted to let it go.

It was the glimpse of Hermione as he spotted her amongst the crowd, trying to dance laughing with a pissed Ron when Draco finally made up his mind.

The two of them did receive many curious looks, not only from former Hogwarts students but also from the other guests. He had received those glances throughout the whole night - hell, he received them every time he went out in public - but they didn't really bother him anymore. Mrs Weasley had greeted him heartily and even Mr Weasley had clapped him on the shoulder. Draco smiled slightly, and then he turned towards Neville again.

Draco had to admit that he cleaned up nicely. The scrawny boy from their school days was gone, instead, Neville reached about Draco's height, maybe even more. Working outside had given him a rather dark tan and Draco had no doubt that all the girls in Hogwarts were probably hanging on his every word.

They all had grown up, Draco admitted to himself.

"Do you remember the days after the battle?" Draco asked then and Neville's face darkened slightly as he took a sip of his drink.

"Of course," he grunted.

"Do you also remember who stayed behind in the castle?"

"Hmm," Neville paused. "Not many, but McGonagall welcomed anyone who wanted to stay. Some had no home to return to but many were invited to stay with friends and their families. We were only a handful which stayed at the castle directly after the battle. We split at first, some wanted to help in Hogsmeade but the villagers took care of it themselves and sent them back to the castle. We were around eight people, I think. Yes, it was eight students, in the end, I remember because we stayed at the Hufflepuff common room together. Besides the Slytherin dorms, the Hufflepuff ones were the most whole but well, nobody wanted to stay at the dungeons. The teachers stayed together and we did. We spent most of the days cleaning up and helping rebuild. McGonagall said that she would open the school during the whole summer, so those who needed it could return and stay. Many parents were still missing and she wanted to provide a safe place for everyone. Anyway, that's not what you asked," Neville frowned, seeming to think about it.

"There were two girls from Hufflepuff, sisters, they were in Fifth and Third year. Two other Gryffindors, one Sixth and one Second Year, and then me, Hermione and two Seventh Years from Ravenclaw. No Slytherins," Neville counted the people on his hand, then he looked up. "Why'd you ask?"

"I have some blanks from those days and I'm just trying to fill them," Draco answered. "I was wondering if someone else might have helped me or done anything, so I could, you know, thank them."

Neville nodded but then he struggled. "No, the others, well," he broke off, looking nervously. "To be honest, Malfoy, they all avoided coming near the hospital wing because they knew that you were there. You tried to get up and help but you never got very far before you passed out again. They were always relieved when you were brought back to the hospital wing. I think that the thought of having you roam around the castle - it quite scared them."

"Oh," Draco answered, not really knowing what to think of this. He furrowed his brows. "So, there was nobody…?"

"Oh, what no, I went to see you once, see if Madame Pomfrey needed some potion ingredients, you know. And there was Hermione of course, but you already talked to her, so-"

"Wait, Hermione visited me?" Draco perked up and Neville looked confused but then he nodded.

"Yes, she went to see you every day you were there. She told me that you two got to talk a little but because of your blackouts, you were mostly confused the whole time. She found you quite often lying in a hallway when you would sneak out of your bed to try to help before it became too much. You tried to leave several times a day, the first two days you came only as far as down the hallway but on the third, you managed to go all the way down to the dungeons to check the damage of the Slytherin dorms. It was the one place everyone else refused to go. Hermione went with you down there but you must have passed out again because it was the house elves that brought you back to the hospital wing that day. On the fourth day, everyone forced you to stay in bed to heal, and by the end of that day, you were escorted to Azkaban. That's basically it, nothing special happened except you giving Madame Pomfrey a few scares whenever she found your bed empty again."

"Yes," Draco mumbled. "Nothing special indeed."

"What?" Neville asked, having not been able to clearly hear him.

"Nothing, it's just that Hermione told me that she only visited me once in those four days," Draco answered.

"Oh no, she was there every day at least twice, I think she felt bad because you took the slashing curse instead of her but she was definitely there," Neville nodded, taking again sip of his drink.

Draco stared silently at the dancing guests. A flash of ice blue dress caught his eye and he frowned deeply, his thoughts running wild.


	14. Lies

**Welcome Back!**

 **Sorry for the long wait, I've been on holidays and had no time to write :D But now I'm back and I brought you a new chapter!**

 **Hope you like it!**

 _Disclaimer:_ ** _I don't own anything!_**

 **A big THANK YOU to all the people, who help me with this story:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **,** _throughhiseyes_ ** _,_** SKDMHG **,** _Sinful824_ **,** ** _and_** _Lady Evora_ **!**

 **Enjoy,  
Kia**

* * *

 **14\. LIES**

 _Draco's Shack on the Malfoy Grounds, early January 2001_

* * *

Draco nipped at his whisky, staring into the blazing flames of the fire pit while he was deep in thought. He was sitting on the backrest of the couch, bare feet on the cushion while he had his elbow propped on his knees, glass tumbler in one hand.

He sighed and the ice clinked against the crystal.

He had returned from the wedding over an hour ago and had gone straight to the shack by the old oak tree. The first thing he did was light the fire pit embedded in the floor then poured himself a drink, got rid of his shoes, tie and jacket. He was sitting on top of the couch, dwelling on what was a mess in his head.

 _She had lied to him_.

Draco sighed again and then took another sip of his drink.

He had spent the past weeks theorising about what may have happened, about how it happened, about when it happened. He had thought about the possibility that he was obliviated somehow or imperiused by another Death Eater, maybe put under a love potion, fell and hit his head, in denial about what must have happened, what if his father was behind it, what if -

Draco cursed loudly and then stretched his head back to stare up at the glass ceiling. The sky was dark and the fire was reflected in the glass which made it impossible for Draco to see any stars.

Hermione had visited him in those four days. They had been in the dungeons together. Those were the days he _knew_ he didn't remember.

But _she_ didn't know Corvus and even if they had slept together and she fell pregnant, how come nobody knew about it?

"That's ridiculous!" Draco mumbled to himself. "Pull yourself together, Draco!"

He emptied the glass tumbler, and then wished that he had the bottle instead. It wasn't like he would get any sleep tonight nor go back to the Manor to join Astoria in bed.

He needed answers and before he made a fool of himself by asking Hermione, he needed a second opinion on what their meetings during those days after the war looked like.

And for that, he needed to go to Hogwarts.

* * *

 **Hogwarts Castle, two days later**

* * *

"And I was also thinking about getting new Quidditch gear for the house players to use, this way it can be made sure that someone, who might not be able to afford a broom, still has a chance to play for their house. It obviously would be provided for all four houses and - Corvus, don't touch that!" Draco scolded as Corvus was trying to poke a portrait of a dragon in the eye, making it spew fire. The dragon got startled and the fire he breathed reached the portrait next to him, singeing the feather on the hat of that inhabitant, who became hysterical once he realised that he was standing in flames.

"Sowy," Corvus said and bowed his head as he walked back to his father's side and took his hand.

"It's alright, Albert, calm yourself down!" Minerva McGonagall lectured to the painting, whose occupant huffed as he shook his hat to put the flames out. He mumbled something after them as they continued to walk down towards the Great Hall.

Under the pretence of wanting to visit the castle to discuss several issues with McGonagall, Draco had written to her. He actually did have a few things to talk to her about, like becoming an official supplier for the potion classes as well as for the hospital wing. And because he was on the school board - and because he _was_ a Slytherin - he thought that he would put more money into school supplies first, then talk business and then coincidentally ask if he could take a walk through the school, solely for sentimental purposes _of course_.

The business reason was also the one he told Astoria this morning before he left, and when he had taken Corvus with him, she hadn't even questioned him.

His son was currently holding his hand, walking next to Draco alongside the Headmistress and Draco knew that the boy had no idea what exciting new thing to focus on first. There was the Headmistress herself, the many students, the portraits and Hogwarts in general. Draco thought that Cor might be a little overwhelmed by all of it.

"New Quidditch supplies, huh?" Minerva seemed to think about it as they walked through the opened door into the Great Hall, where a few students were enjoying an early lunch already.

Draco spotted Hagrid at the teacher's table and Neville next to him but besides two more teachers, the table was empty as well.

Corvus tugged at his arm and Draco looked down as the boy excitedly pointed up to the house banners. "Daddy, look! A bird!"

Draco followed his finger to see the blue Ravenclaw banner and he smiled at Corvus tightly before he nodded along. "Yes, a bird, Cor."

The Headmistress smiled at the young boy, who had grown excited at every little thing he spotted in the castle while they had walked down from her office, where Draco had flooed in, towards the Great Hall. On the way, Draco had explained what ideas he had for the school and he planned on telling Minerva during lunch about his business offer before he would visit Madame Pomfrey at the hospital wing and finally return home again.

"He seems like quite an excitable boy," Minerva said with a smile. "One that takes interest in Ravenclaw, I see."

She chuckled and Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Ravenclaw, you say?" Draco drawled and received a rather confused look back. "I'm sorry, Headmistress but I don't think Ravenclaw will be the House for him considering that he used the distraction of this very conversation to sneak away, so he can stuff his cheeks with cake behind my back."

Draco turned around at his words and caught Corvus red-handed as the boy had really snuck away from them to climb up the bench by the Ravenclaw table. He continued on the table itself, sitting now by the plate full of cauldron cakes, his tiny cheeks stuffed full, one piece of cake in one hand while he reached for another piece with his other hand.

When he realised that his father had caught him and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, Corvus had frozen mid-movement, unable to continue with his cheekiness.

"I see," Minerva commented dryly at the picture, a smile on her lips.

"Yes, definitely not a Ravenclaw," Draco added and the elder woman shrugged.

"Well, it was rather smart, wouldn't you say?" She smiled at Draco before she continued to walk towards the teacher's table, where she and Draco planned to have an early lunch after she had invited him.

"Corvus!" Draco scolded in the meantime, walking briskly towards the table with a dark face. The students had all turned their heads to watch the spectacle and Draco knew that soon, the rest of the Hogwarts population would influx the Great Hall.

He stepped closer to the boy, first lifting him off the table to sit him on the bench, then cleaning his sticky hands of cake.

Corvus's mouth was so full of cake that he couldn't even talk but at least he looked apologetic so Draco let it slide. When he was clean again, he took him by the hand and told him that they would eat at the table above at the front. Corvus, who was now fascinated by Hagrid, came with him without any complaint, still chewing his cake.

Draco knew that the boy would be napping pretty good today, having exhausted himself by all these impressions at Hogwarts. There was at least that little silver lining in the end.

While they joined the teachers for lunch, Draco explained his new potion firm concept to the Headmistress. Corvus' eyes started to droop half-way through the meal and Draco had to pull him on his lap so that he could fall asleep against his shoulder.

After the meal was finished, Draco finally asked if she wouldn't mind that he visit the hospital wing for a moment and Minerva gladly let him roam around as long as he didn't disturb any classes. Draco promised not to then put a weightless charm on Corvus before adjusting him in his arms so that his head still rested on his shoulder while fast asleep. Draco nodded towards Neville and exchanged a few words before he made his way out of the Great Hall and up the familiar way to the hospital wing.

* * *

Draco met Madame Pomfrey halfway as she was headed down to the Great Hall to have lunch as well.

He offered to walk back with her once more, and she accepted it gratefully. After some small talk about how he was doing, Draco was finally able to ask the question which had been bothering him for so long.

"Visitors?" She asked while they were walking.

"Hmmm, I remember that Miss Granger came by very often but then, she helped me out a lot, so I let her cast some of the cleaning spells and she changed some of your bandages while I tended to the potions. She was a real help, especially in bringing you back whenever you snuck out of bed again," the elder women remembered with a tight smile, still sending a disapproving look to Draco. "You can be happy that your stubbornness hasn't caused you any further pain. I can only imagine what would have happened if your blackouts had caused you to fall and potentially split your wounds open in the wrong way, especially when you were alone in some corridor."

"And these blackouts, I mean, I still can't remember what happened… do you think the memory will come back at some point?" Draco asked, hoisting Corvus up a little.

"I doubt it," the nurse replied. "Honestly, you could compare it to a mental blank after a hangover. It's just something you won't remember doing. Your body was exhausted from the war, it was healing from the slicing hex and then the nerve-damaging curse and you were taking five different potions at the same time. And that's only your physical condition. Now, remember the emotional strain, the fact that your parents were arrested, that you had just changed sides, that you had to live with that, _that monster_ for so long, that you had lost some friends, that you had a pending arrest ahead. Do not fret over those four days you don't remember, it's a wonder that you were actually conscious at all. Suffering from so many things would have caused most to go into shock or even fall into a coma for a few days."

"Yes," Draco said with frosty voice. "I just tried to put some things together, who I could thank, who was there to help me, you know. There is also something, which I apparently did during those days and I need to find out more about it but maybe I should just ask Hermione about it."

"Don't worry, dear," Madame Pomfrey smiled at him. "Besides Miss Granger, Minerva and me, you only had Mr Longbottom as a one-time visitor. Miss Granger was there daily, so if you need to know anything, then she probably knows about it, considering she always found you and brought you back."

"But talking about Hermione, could you… could you maybe tell me how she was doing while visiting me?"

Madame Pomfrey frowned. "Well, it wasn't as if I was spying you but she was concerned most of the time, I guess. Oh, and on the last day, when you were about to be escorted out by the Auror, the poor girl was devastated. I told her that you would pull through though."

"Thank you," Draco answered as they reached the Great Hall.

"Sure thing, my boy!" Madame Pomfrey smiled as they separated. Draco sighed, reluctantly making his way back to the Headmistress office. He had told her that he would need about an hour and she had agreed to meet him back in the office to open the floo for him later.

There really was no point in staying any longer, but Madame Pomfrey had confirmed that Hermione had visited him more than once, which was at least something. He could start with that whenever he saw her next.

He sighed as he reached the spiral staircase and said the password before he walked up and into the office. He was much too early but he hoped that Minerva might come back sooner as well.

"What's your secret?" Draco whispered into Corvus' hair with a sad smile, kissing the boy on top of his head while he started to look around the Headmistress' office.

"Ah, Mr Malfoy, what brings you back into these halls?"

Draco looked up in surprise at the voice, as a shiver ran down his spine. He turned to see the large, gold-framed portrait of none other than Albus Dumbledore. The old wizard's eyes twinkled at Draco behind his half-moon glasses. When Draco had arrived earlier, the portrait had been empty.

"Uhm," Draco was too perplexed to really answer. "I'm was here to see Minerva and Madame Pomfrey, Professor. Well, I just did, so now I'm waiting for the Headmistress to return. She needs to open the floo connection again," he caught himself, his voice steadying with every word. No matter what, he still felt wary facing the former Hogwarts headmaster, even if he was only a portrait.

"Ahh, I see," Dumbledore smiled at him. "Well, I'm sure she'll be back soon. I also couldn't help but overhear the little dilemma you found yourself in. Having problems remembering something important?"

Draco looked at the portrait surprised. "Something like that. I came a little further but I'm still looking for more evidence or rather proof, I guess."

"And you hoped Poppy could give it to you?" The old man asked smirking.

"Well, she only told me what I already knew. But something happened in those days, something terribly important but I just can't remember it," The blond frowned while Dumbledore looked down at him with bright eyes. Draco cradled Corvus a little tighter.

"Have you tried the Forget-me-not potion?" The old man folded his hands in his lap, glancing at the young Malfoy curiously.

"It's a rather curious potion," he continued, sighing. "Forget-me-nots are obviously the main ingredient, together with the bark of the Japanese ginkgo tree. The potion itself is rather harmless, yet it can provide a powerful result. You take it before bed, thinking about someone or something and when you are asleep, you will have dream-like episodes where you essentially relive the last few moments that you shared with a person, an animal or even an object. Humans tend to forget plenty of things, so this potion will bring back memories for a short moment. They will be _refreshed_ as you might say," Dumbledore explained. Draco stepped closer while he spoke to stand directly in front of the portrait.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" The blond asked with wide eyes.

"Well," Dumbledore smirked. "You could obviously take the potion and think about something or _someone_ and it might give you the needed evidence you are looking for. But be aware, Mr Malfoy. I will tell you what I told Mr Potter years ago after he discovered a unique mirror. _It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live._ The Forget-me-not potion might be a handy thing for one or two occasions but men and women have also used it every day to remember a deceased one as clear as possible, losing themselves in what might have been real memories once but which had become a false reality later on." the old man looked at Draco again with sharp eyes. Then they flickered over to Corvus, smiling warmly. The wizard stroked his white beard, remembering.

"I used it once myself to find my favourite pair of socks. I just couldn't remember where I put them, so I took the potion, went to sleep thinking about the socks and I relived the latest memories with them, and let me tell you, some were quite fond, and I also remembered where I had put the last. The next morning, I remembered that I had hung them over the fireplace to dry."

"So, you found your socks again?" Draco asked slowly.

Dumbledore frowned. "Unfortunately, a spark of ember had set them on fire and when I went to get them, I only found a pile of ash, which explains why I hadn't been able to find them. Really sad, as they had been my favourite pair," the former Headmaster shook his head sadly while Draco stared at him confused.

At that moment the door opened and McGonagall stepped inside the office, startled to find Draco in there already. Draco continued to stare up at Dumbledore as he began to describe the destroyed socks in great detail to the portrait next to him who was trying not to fall asleep.

"Well, Mr Malfoy, I hope you found everything you needed. Poppy told me that she met you on her way down. I will open the floo back up for you." The Headmistress said briskly walking over to the fireplace.

Draco nodded absently. "Thank you, Professor. I did find some answers, yes," he finally answered.

"Oh, I'm glad you did," McGonagall said, waving her wand in front of the fireplace.

Draco looked up at the portrait again where Dumbledore stopped what he was doing to glance down at Draco over his half-moon glasses. He winked.

The blond frowned confused, then walked over to the fireplace to bid the Headmistress goodbye and thank her again for letting him come.

"Oh, you know Mr Malfoy, Hogwarts will always welcome you home," she smiled warmly at him while she watched Draco grab some of the floo powder and step into the fireplace to floo back to Malfoy Manor.

* * *

 **Malfoy Library, a few minutes later**

* * *

Corvus was still sleeping soundly as Draco had put him down on one of the couches as he roamed through the library to find the book he needed. He searched frantically through their register of books, trying to find the right one.

He had never heard of the potion before but it didn't sound particularly dark, so the chances that it just stood in an unknown book was more plausible than if he had looked for the dark magic ones.

After he settled on four books on dreaming potions, Draco went to fetch them, making sure that Corvus was still fast asleep before he disappeared between the huge bookcases in the library of Malfoy Manor.

Once he got the books, he brought them back to a desk where he spread them open and went through them one by one.

"For Salazar's sake," he cursed as he eventually slammed the fourth book shut, having not been able to find anything in any the books he had picked.

"Lueur!" He called and the small elf popped into the room a second later. Draco asked her to send his mother to him, hoping that Narcissa had heard of the potion and could help him. After all, she had been rather outstanding at potions.

"Darling, is everything alright?" His mother asked as she walked into the library, her silk robes billowing behind her.

Draco gestured for her to close the door and put up a silencing spell and once she had, he quickly explained what he had found out.

"So you think Mrs Granger is the mother of your son?"

Draco sighed, a hand going up to dishevel his hair. "I don't know yet. But I know that she lied to me about spending time with me in the days after the war. She must know something, which she didn't tell me. If that had to do with herself or somebody else, I don't know. But if I can take this potion, then I might remember."

"The Forget-me-not potion?" Narcissa mused. "It's an old potion. I do remember that my grandmother once mentioned it because she tended to be quite forgetful. But other than the name, I never came across the recipe for it. Not in school and obviously not after it. But wait- now that I think about it-" Narcissa stopped talking and rushed in the opposite direction of the main library. She didn't enter the potion section but instead headed in the direction of her gardening books.

She came back with a heavy, gold-laden book in her hands. Roses, lilies and other flowers were engraved in the golden cover of the book and when Narcissa put it down on the desk, Draco saw that it was a guide on garden flowers and their use in potions.

"Forget-me-nots," she mumbled as she went through the pages, each one dedicated to a different flower. "Ahh, here we are."

Draco leant closer to take a look at the page of the book and as Narcissa went through the writing, she stopped when she found the right passage.

"I knew it, there it mentions the Forget-me-knot potion with the reference that its instruction can be found in the companion book of this guide."

His mother got up and then disappeared again before she returned with another, much smaller book.

"The potion is supposed to be on page 53," she smiled and then opened the companion book to flip to the right page. "Here we have it."

Draco eagerly ripped the book out of her hands and he ignored her scolding look over his bad manners as he read through the potion instructions.

"It takes two weeks to brew and all the ingredients are easily accessible. Except two, I have them all in my potion's lab and it just takes a trip to the apothecary to get the rest." Draco said after he had finished reading and then gave the book back to his mother so she could read it as well.

Draco glanced at his sleeping son. "The potion will be ready the day after Cor's birthday if I start brewing today."

Narcissa nodded. "But it would be best if you don't brew it here."

"I will brew it someplace else," Draco agreed. "Could you watch Corvus for the rest of the afternoon? Then I can go to the apothecary and begin brewing."

"Of course." Narcissa smiled and stepped closer, putting her hand on Draco's cheek.

"I really hope you'll find what you are looking for and that it isn't another disappointment."

"Thank you, mother."

"Always, my dragon."

* * *

 **Ron's Flat, late afternoon**

* * *

"Tell me again why you abuse my kitchen to brew your potion?"

"Because I need a safe place to do it. And that means not in one of my houses or at my firm or any other property that is related to me in any way." Draco answered while he lit the fire beneath the cauldron.

The first ingredients were laid out next to the cauldron but Draco had to wait for the base to simmer first before he could add them.

Ron was stuffing his mouth with French pastries - which Draco brought him as a bribe - as he watched Draco shuffle around the kitchen.

Draco looked up as everything was ready. "Where is Hermione, by the way?"

"What?" Ron coughed. "Oh, she's back in Australia. She and her parents have to wrap things up but then she will come back for good. I think they will fly back around next week."

Draco froze. "Will she stay here then?" He eyed the cauldron frowning.

"No," Ron shook his head, swallowing. "George offered for her to move into the flat above the shop's warehouse. You know, the one next to your firm. She's been looking for flats since the first time she visited before Christmas. George offered it to her back then but she wanted to look around first. But finding something in her price range wasn't so easy, so when she came back for the wedding, she accepted George's offer. He tweaked a lot on the rent and I think she knows that but we are not allowed to talk about it. Why'd you ask?"

Draco shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure that she isn't staying here and sees all this. Wouldn't she ask questions?"

"Yeah, she would," Ron snorted. "She wouldn't be Hermione if she didn't."

"Yes," Draco mumbled as she started to crush some adder's fork.

"So, what exactly is the potion for?" Ron tried to peek in the cauldron, whose content was starting to simmer.

"It will help me remember something."

"Corvus' mother?"

"Maybe," Draco said. "I hope so."

Ron looked surprised. "So, you've started to look for the truth again?"

Draco shrugged. "I tried to ignore it but I really can't," he reached for the dry poppy heads and carefully peeled the brownish skin back on the head.

"So, do you have any idea who the mother might be?"

"Not specifically. But I hope that this potion will give me some answers."

"Sure, sure," Ron nodded.

Draco carefully scraped the poppy seeds out of the head before he started to cut off the skin in thin stripes.

"Oh, before I forget, my mother plans to throw a party for Corvus' birthday. She invited Teddy and my aunt and to be honest, Cor doesn't really have that many friends, so I was wondering if you want to come by. You can bring Harry and uhm, Hermione if she has time. Or your brother. George, I mean. I don't really know your other brothers. Anyway, yes, it's on the 22nd."

"Sure, I'll be there," Ron said and at that moment they both looked up to realise what an odd situation they were in now. A few months ago, Draco would have laughed at the idea of inviting a Weasley to his kid's birthday party.

"Thanks," Draco said gratefully. "Corvus will be thrilled."

"Well, I'll let you get to your potion. Don't ruin my kitchen or you will have to buy me a new one." Ron said, reaching for the bag of pastries before he took it with him to walk back to the couch, where he was intending to finish them all at once.


	15. Surprise, Surprise

**Hello, everyone!**

 **Again, sorry for the long wait but I have summer holidays and I'm visiting all my friends over the summer. Lots of cities to visit and I normally don't bring my laptop along. Anyway, we reached Corvus' birthday and I advise you to read the title of this chapter twice. Because that's what you will get :D**

 **Hope you like it!**

 _Disclaimer:_ ** _I don't own anything!_**

 **A big THANK YOU to all the people, who help me with this story:** _Dramione84_ **,** _Affectiion_ **,** _kika_kanyume7_ **,** _throughhiseyes_ ** _,_** SKDMHG **,** _Sinful824_ **,** ** _and_** _Lady Evora_ **!**

 **Enjoy,  
Kia**

* * *

 **15\. SURPRISE, SURPRISE**

 _Malfoy Manor, 22nd of January, Corvus 2nd Birthday_

* * *

"How's my birthday boy?" Astoria cooed as she helped Corvus to sit into his chair at the breakfast table. The boy giggled as his apparent mother placed a present on the table before she sat down next to him and started to prepare his breakfast.

Draco, who sat at one end - in his father's supposed chair - looked at his mother, who sat at the other end with a raised eyebrow. Both Malfoys looked at Astoria surprised and suspicious at the same time.

"We've got a great surprise for you, darling!" Astoria continued to talk to Corvus, who looked at her with big eyes before he focused on the present again. "Daddy and I planned something real big, Cor!"

Corvus clapped his hands, grinning from ear to ear and eagerly accepted the bowl of fruits Astoria gave him.

"Birsday!" The blond boy said before he put his hand out, showing two fingers. "Two!"

"Yes, you are two now! Such a big boy." Astoria laughed and then leant down to kiss Corvus on the cheek, laughing as the boy tried to pull away. He laughed at her antics as she tickled him.

Draco frowned deeply.

"I will take Corvus to Diagon Alley during the afternoon," Draco said with a tight voice, making Corvus and Astoria stop laughing. They both turned their heads to look at Draco.

Astoria grimaced. "I know, Draco. You told me yesterday and the day before. While you are in Diagon Alley, we will prepare the party."

"Good," Draco said and stared down at his own breakfast.

"No need to be so frosty," Astoria said as she rolled her eyes before she turned back to Corvus, who was tugging at her sleeve.

"Mummy?" The boy asked and leant closer to whisper something in Astoria's ear. She laughed and tickled him again.

Corvus delighted laughter echoed through the Malfoy dining room.

Draco grabbed his silver cutlery so tight that his knuckles turned white.

"Draco, darling, maybe you should leave earlier for Diagon Alley. You could go for lunch and didn't you want to pick up a special present in the toy shop?" Narcissa asked with a tight voice, putting emphasis on the last part.

"Yes, now that you mention it," Draco nodded. "I remember that I promised him some ice cream."

Corvus, who heard the word, perked up and his head snapped around to Draco. "Icegream?"

Draco chuckled and watched satisfied that Astoria sat back with a frown as Corvus' attention was not on her anymore.

She pushed the present she had put on the table in Corvus direction and the boy instantly turned his attention to her again, eying the present with glee.

"Open it, love!" Astoria urged and Corvus reached for the green paper wrapped present with anticipation.

* * *

Draco was glad when it was finally time to leave.

The whole morning, Astoria had been practically glued to Corvus side and much to Draco's dismay, his son had taken to Astoria like he had never before. In the past two weeks, Draco's wife had been especially friendly, taken Corvus out for trips and made sure to play with him every day.

There wasn't much Draco could do about it. Forbidding her to spend time with the child would be too obvious. Draco had to keep the ruse going for a little while.

And then there was the fact, that he still hadn't told his father.

At least, the Forget-me-not potion would be ready tomorrow.

Draco shook his head as she bent down to help Corvus tie his shoes. They were in the floo room of the Manor and would start their trip to Diagon Alley any minute. They weren't to return until the early afternoon and Draco was glad that he could get out of the house.

And that Astoria was too busy to organise the party so that she didn't suddenly have the idea to join him and Corvus.

After Corvus was ready, Draco lifted him up and together they flooed directly into Draco's office at _Malfoy Apothecaries_.

Stumbling out, Draco cast a cleaning charm on them before he put Corvus down, who instantly started to run around the office happily. Draco shook his head as he adjusted the scarf and his coat. He had refrained from wearing robes and had chosen a woollen coat instead. Together with a warming charm, it would keep him warm.

"Cor, let's go!" Draco called and his son appeared from behind his desk, grinning happily. Draco led them out of the office. They were greeted by the employees, who were working that day and all of them wished Corvus a happy birthday.

Draco led him to the lifts, which brought them down to the street.

"Hold Daddy's hand, Corvus!" Draco said to his son while they were standing in the lift.

Corvus nodded and when they reached the lobby Draco was already holding tightly onto the child's arm as he pulled Draco excitedly towards the doors.

Draco greeted the woman behind the reception desk, who greeted him back and then called after them, wishing Corvus a happy birthday as well.

When they stepped outside on the street, an icy wind blew into Draco's face and he was glad about his warming charm.

"Corvus, stop!" He commanded because Corvus was already pulling him down the street. Reluctantly, the boy complied and turned around to his father.

"Let's get you wrapped up," Draco mumbled as he kneeled down in front of Corvus, making sure that his knitted hat was covering his ears and that his scarf was tugged tightly around him, keeping him warm against the cold winter air.

"Hold my hand. And don't let go, okay?" Draco added and the small boy nodded, trying to turn around to get a peek at Diagon Alley.

Draco stood up and reached for Corvus' hand when suddenly the door next to Malfoy Apothecaries opened and a familiar witch stumbled out in the cold, trying to pull a hat over her enormous amount of hair.

"'Nee!" Corvus shouted with glee and ripped his hand out of Draco's to make the few steps before he wrapped his arms around one leg of the woman.

"Granger," Draco drawled out of habit, looking disapproving at Corvus, who bent his head in apology while he trotted back to his father's side and took Draco's hand without a word.

"Oh, hey Draco. Corvus." Hermione smiled at them while bending down slightly to smile at Corvus.

The boy giggled.

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked surprised, looking past her and at the building, which was owned by George Weasley and contained his workshop and storage place for his products.

"Oh, I moved into the flat above George's workshop," Hermione answered.

"Yes, right. Ron mentioned it. So, you are back for good now?" Draco wanted to know and Hermione nodded.

"Yes, since last week. My parents were able to sell their house in Australia and cede their practice so we shipped everything to England two weeks ago and we flew back last week. I helped them settle in and then yesterday I finally was able to move into my own," Hermione explained while she still struggled with her head. "When I visited in December, I had been looking for flats but I couldn't find anything I liked, so George offered me the flat here."

Draco nodded. "Ron mentioned that, too. I would have known a few empty ones."

Hermione looked up surprised. "Well, I doubt they are in my price range," she admitted and Draco frowned.

"Didn't you get an award from the Ministry?"

"I did," Hermione shrugged. "But I used most of it in Australia because of the first few months there, I just rented a flat without working and I travelled to look for my parents and I almost used it all up then."

"Daddy! Go!" Corvus pulled at his arm impatiently, having had enough of the adult talk.

"I didn't want to hold you up!" Hermione said while she wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck, shuddering from the cold.

"We are walking down to the Alley if you are going in that direction," Draco offered and she smiled at them.

"Yes, I have to go there as well."

Corvus huffed and continued to pull Draco down the street, who rolled his eyes while Hermione laughed as she joined them.

"So, what are you doing here? Some shopping?" Hermione asked, more Corvus than Draco.

"Yes!" Corvus shouted. "My Birsday!"

"Oh really?" Hermione asked surprised and Corvus nodded wildly. "How old are you now?"

"This," Corvus showed her two fingers and Draco grinned.

"That old already!" Hermione gasped. "Aren't you a big boy?"

"Yes, thiiiiis big!" Corvus told her happily. "No Daddy! Daddy this!" Corvus stretched his hand way above his head and Hermione laughed.

"Well, Happy Birthday then!"

Corvus giggled happily before he turned around and continued to walk slightly ahead of Draco and Hermione while holding Draco's hand.

Hermione looked over at Draco, who had been glancing over as well.

"Going for presents?" She asked, saying the last word in a low whisper.

Draco nodded. "Yes, we are having a party later and while Mother and Astoria prepare everything, I make sure that Corvus stays away from the Manor so that it will be a surprise. I promised him ice cream and that he can pick out a present directly in the shop."

"All alone!" Corvus added, turning his head to grin at both adults as he had heard the last part.

"Yes, he is going to pick out his present all alone!" Draco repeated with the raise of his eyebrows. Corvus looked proudly at them while Hermione got the sarcasm and laughed slightly.

"You doing, 'Nee?" Corvus asked interestedly.

"Oh, I need to buy a present as well," she admitted, looking taken aback.

"Toy?" Corvus crooked his head and Hermione nodded.

"Yes, I actually have to go to the toy store."

"Ahhh, Daddy 'Nee come?" Corvus turned to his father, who sighed but then he smiled and looked over at Hermione.

"Sure, if she wants to."

"Come?" Corvus asked Hermione pleading.

"I would love to," The young women chuckled and Corvus yelped happily, reaching out to grab Hermione's hand as well before he started to pull both adults down the cobblestone street. Hermione looked surprised before she glanced over to Draco to see if it was alright but the blond looked down at his son adoringly and proud so Hermione went along with it.

They entered Diagon Alley from the top and Draco gripped Corvus' hand tighter when the crowd around them became denser. Hermione, who sensed that, tightened her hand around Corvus as well and even managed to pull him back, so he was walking securely between them. Draco gave her a grateful smile.

They fought their way through Diagon Alley until they reached the side alley, which they followed in order to reach the toy store, where it was somewhat removed from the main street. Upon entering the store, Corvus was in heaven, squealing at everything that moved.

Draco pulled him even closer towards him because he knew that if he let go Corvus would disappear in the rows of shelves full of toys.

The store wasn't as crowded as the streets outside, only a handful of other customers were inside.

"Cor, listen. You can go and take a look, alright? But be careful!" Draco told Corvus with an authoritative voice, which reminded Hermione of Lucius. Corvus' eyes became big and he nodded, obviously listening to his father's words.

Draco nodded as well and then sent the boy off, who disappeared laughing in a row of shelves. Hermione looked worried after him.

"The front door is charmed so that only adults can open it and then there is an age line, which prevents children from walking outside, even if the door is opened," Draco explained as Hermione looked back at said entrance door, having interpreted her frowning face the wrong way. She looked at him with distant eyes before she nodded automatically.

"I ordered another present for him. I need to pick it up at the register. Did you say you needed to get a present as well?" Draco asked and Hermione looked at him perplexed.

"What? Oh yes, yes. I'll take a look," she said to Draco absently, her good mood vanished. She walked away without another word, disappearing behind a shelf while Draco looked after her confused.

He shrugged and continued to walk to the counter as the owner of the shop had spotted him already.

Hermione heard the owner talk to Draco in a hushed voice while she walked past the shelves and looked at the different toys with a heavy heart. She stopped when she saw Corvus in front of a shelf which reached the ceiling and was full of stuffed animals.

The boy was giggling at the stuffed teddy bear, which changed its fur colour whenever his right ear was pressed. He looked up when Hermione walked closer, showing her the teddy bear with delight.

She smiled at him while her glance wandered over the shelf, trying to find something, which fit her purpose.

"Look?" Corvus asked, pushing the teddy bear back into the shelf.

"A stuffed animal would be lovely," Hermione told him. "A small one," she added when Corvus pointed to the teddy bear he had just played with. He seemed to think then, sizing up the shelf before he walked over and grabbed Hermione's hand, pulling her down the aisle until he reached his destination.

"There!" Corvus said with glee and pointed to the stuffed animals, which were way out of his reach and above Hermione's head. "Up!"

Hermione looked up and saw that Corvus had brought her to the part of the shelf where the magical creatures were.

"Up, 'Nee." Corvus pulled at her trousers and Hermione bent down to pick him up. In her arms, Corvus was able to reach the stuffed animals and he went straight for the dragons, pulling out two identical ones.

"Daddy eyes," he explained as he showed her the steel grey dragon and Hermione needed all her willpower to keep herself from frowning.

"I and you," Corvus told her then, clutching one dragon tightly in his arms while he pressed the other one against Hermione's chest.

The witch was speechless at the gesture and it took her a while to collect her words.

"That's a beautiful choice, thanks, Corvus," Hermione whispered, clutching the boy a little tighter against her. Corus smiled at her before he leaned forwards and threw his arms around her neck, squeezing tightly.

It was a moment where Hermione had to take a deep breath before she could put Corvus down again. He took her hand and pulled her towards the counter at which Draco was still standing and talking to the shop owner.

When they came closer, Draco looked up surprised before his glance fell on the small boy.

Corvus was giggling and excited as he showed Draco his choice and the young father smiled as he spotted the grey dragon. He then looked up and his face turned surprised when he spotted the same toy in Hermione's hands.

The woman blushed and then shrugged slightly. "Corvus helped me pick it out."

"Alright, let's pay," Draco said and snatched the dragon out of Corvus' hands before he placed it on the counter. He quickly looked at Hermione's dragon but she clutched the stuffed animal painfully tight and Draco knew instantly that it wasn't something that he should offer to pay for. It was something that his former classmate needed to buy for herself.

Draco paid for the dragon and his other present which would be delivered to the Manor during the day and which Corvus would receive once they returned home later in the afternoon.

He stepped aside and gave the dragon back to Corvus, who clutched it happily. Draco watched how Hermione paid for her toy before she took it and put it carefully in her handbag, which she had been carrying over one shoulder.

Draco grabbed Corvus' hand again and together the three of them walked out of the shop again.

"Would you like to join us for lunch?" Draco asked after Hermione started to get nervous as they were standing awkwardly in front of the door.

The brunette glanced down at Corvus, who looked hopefully up at her. "I wouldn't want to spoil your day."

"Don't be silly," Draco said. "Corvus would be happy and it is his birthday after all."

Hermione bit her lip but looked down at Corvus, who was nodded enthusiastically at her. Hermione smiled then.

"Sure, why not."

Draco smiled at her as well before he led them further down the street to a small restaurant which served, according to him, the best sandwiches in the whole of Wizarding London.

Once they were settled and had ordered, Corvus was having a conversation with his new dragon, and Draco was finally able to talk to Hermione without distractions.

"So, you are a Healer, right? Are you going to work at St. Mungo's now that you are back?" Draco asked after their drinks had arrived.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I applied for a job in their research facility while I was still in Australia. When I first started Healer training, I knew it would be a hard job but after," she lowered her voice, "the war, I knew pretty soon after I started the training that it wasn't the job for me. But I pulled through and specialised in research, and now I'm quite excited for the position at St. Mungo's."

"You don't really sound excited, though," Draco noted and Hermione looked at him

astounded.

"What?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you are great at whatever you are doing but I faintly remember how you fought for the rights of house elves with quite the determination and somehow, I just expected you to be as determined about your job as you were back then. I'm sorry that wasn't appropriate," Draco apologised as soon as he had spoken the words, a faint blush colouring his pale cheeks.

"No, no, you are right," Hermione said, surprising herself and Draco in the process. "I mean, I started the training out of desperation. I was alone in Australia and I couldn't find my parents and I panicked. When I went down there, I thought that within two or three months, I would have found them, and then we would come back to England and I could focus on my future. But at some point, I just realised that isn't wasn't as easy as that. I had been looking for them for over six months already and there was no trace and that's when I started to understand that I just couldn't travel from city to city and live without working, so I set up a flat from which I planned everything and then I decided to look for a job. I don't know, it was just a weird time," Hermione recounted, her eyes becoming absent again.

"Why didn't you ask for help? I'm sure Harry and Ron would have dropped everything to come to help you."

"I know but I didn't want that. They had spent the past seven years fighting a war and Harry was finally free from his curse and Ron was needed in his family and I just couldn't be selfish and pull them away from that once more."

Draco frowned. "You had been fighting at their sides for seven years as well. You would have deserved the same break they had."

"I know but I just couldn't. We were still in contact, I visited and they visited but somehow I needed to do this by myself. And once I realised that it would take longer than I expected, I decided to become a Healer. That way I would at least have a career and it didn't feel like I was wasting my time doing nothing. And if I return to England, then I could continue it instead of starting something completely new," Hermione averted her eyes before she reached for her glass and took a sip.

"You just said that you don't want to be a Healer," Draco pointed out.

"No," Hermione agreed. "That's why I took a job in research."

"But what do you _want_ to be?"

She looked up startled, then she smiled sadly.

"When I was a young girl, I always wanted to be a vet," she told him then with darkening cheeks.

"A what?" Draco asked confused.

"A veterinarian. An Animal Healer if you will," Hermione explained, a dreamy expression in her eyes. "I would love to help magical creatures who are injured. And if they are not injured, then I want to fight for their safety, the upkeep of their habitat, the way they are treated and all that. But I would need a lot of funds and start-up money, which again is hard to come by. Maybe once I've established myself in the Wizarding World again and know some people at the Ministry and all that. But for now, I will be happy to do my medical research."

"I like birds," Corvus interrupted them randomly and both adults looked over at him surprised. The boy was clutching his dragon, watching them with big, blue eyes, which stung both of them in the heart for different reasons.

For Hermione because she wished they were different.

And for Draco, because he knew they should be different.

"Really?" Hermione finally asked and Corvus nodded, which made Draco slightly groan.

"Yes, he's a big fan," Draco added with a tight voice and Corvus's nodding grew erratic.

"Why do you like them so much?" The witch continued to ask, looking at the toddler with a smile.

"They fly," Corvus said in a bossy voice as if it was obvious.

"Oh, he definitely is your son," Hermione mumbled and Draco looked up.

"What?"

"Nothing, oh here comes the food."

The food really did come then and they were all quiet while they ate their meal. Draco glanced at Hermione, intrigued as he thought deeply about her words.

* * *

After lunch, they returned to Diagon Alley and Corvus was in awe, fascinated by the store displays and what they sold. He alternately showed Hermione and Draco things he spotted, from baby owls to brooms to self-stirring cauldrons to the meter-high ice cream cup in _Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour_.

He was especially fascinated by the statue of one of the Weasley twins outside their shop.

"Daddy! Go there pwease?" He tugged Draco towards the bright orange building and the blond sighed but nodded and gave in. Hermione smiled and followed them.

Draco opened the door and Corvus slipped inside, squealing at the bright colour and the many things in there. "Great," Draco muttered under his breath as he stepped further inside, the door falling shut behind him.

At least the shop was rather empty, which made it possible for Draco to let Corvus roam around. During holidays, the store was always full of students and children and he would have lost the toddler in such a crowd easily.

"Daddy! This!" Corvus yelled and pointed to some Pygmy Puffs. "Have?"

"Uhm… let me take a look," Draco said and stepped closer to look at the little thing critically. Corvus was pulling at his trousers, repeatedly asking if he could have one.

"Have, Daddy?"

"Do you want to have one?" Draco ask him and Corvus nodded but then he spotted something else.

"Oh! Have?" He walked over to watch some crystal ball light up in different colours. "Pwetty."

"Well, you have to choose one, Cor." Draco laughed but followed him as he walked from the crystal ball to the next thing.

"Well, that's not exactly an easy task, is it?"

Draco looked up and over at Hermione, who was watching them both amused. While Corvus found the section full of sweets and was once again delighted, Hermione told Draco which products were safe to buy from and which he should keep his hands off.

Like Corvus, they started to roam the shop and Draco chuckled when he grabbed one of the pink love potions, turning them in his hands with raised eyebrows.

"I would stay away from them," Hermione appeared next to him. "Ask Ron if you don't believe me."

Draco just stared at her, too surprised to say more. But then Corvus tugged at his trousers again and he looked down at his son who held up his arms, pleading. Draco bent down to pick him up with a sigh. Corvus, who had his dragon in one arm, showed Draco that his other hand was full of sweets.

"You want them all?" Draco asked unbelievingly and Corvus grinned sheepishly.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" The three of them looked up when George Weasley appeared in front of them, grinning at Hermione knowingly, who blushed.

"Have!" Corvus said, showing George his full hands.

"Oh, a wonderful choice!" George gushed as Draco put Corvus down again. "But let me show you something way better," The redhead ushered Corvus away once more, and Draco looked after them sceptically.

"Don't worry. George wouldn't give him anything dangerous," Hermione said while they walked towards the cash register. A moment later, George and Corvus joined them again.

"Nobody told me that it's this young gentleman's birthday today," George demanded indignantly. Draco groaned and Hermione giggled.

"In that case, you need the Magnificent Birthday Special, obviously!" He disappeared behind the counter and seconds later, he pulled out a big orange box, which was filled with sweets and jokes and at which Corvus clapped gleefully.

Draco grimaced but Corvus was so excited that he eventually bought it, much to George's delight.

"Splendid, splendid," The business owner said as he gave Draco the change.

"I wish you three a _splendid_ afternoon," George smirked at the three of them while Hermione frowned at him with narrowed eyes.

They left, with Corvus clutching his dragon in one arm and a _Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes_ bag in the other.

After that, Draco quickly dragged them over to _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ , which was just across the street. Draco needed some broom polish and while he bought it, Hermione and Corvus looked at some displayed brooms.

"He likes flying," Draco told her while putting away his purchase.

She looked up at Draco. "Of course he does."

Draco shook his head, pointing to Corvus, who was more fascinated by the store's owls, who were used for delivering brooms than the brooms themselves. "No, he doesn't like brooms. He likes flying and is fascinated by birds and every animal with wings. Once he even got excited at this Muggle bird thing in the sky."

"An aeroplane?" Hermione asked, chuckling as they left that store as well.

"Aropwane?" Corvus asked as he ditched Draco's hand in order to take a hold of Hermione's.

Hermione tried to explain what an aeroplane was but neither Malfoy understood her really, so she dropped it again after a while.

She laughed. "What are we doing next?"

"How about some ice cream? After that, we have to start heading back." Draco explained. "Unless you have plans of course?"

"No, it's alright, if you don't mind me tagging along."

"It's nice actually," Draco admitted. "To not be alone with him."

Hermione smiled fondly. "So, let's get some ice cream then."

"YES!" Corvus shouted and together they walked to the ice cream parlour, where Draco treated them. He and Hermione got some hot drinks to warm up while Corvus wanted a big bowl with sprinkles.

Draco decided it was nice to talk to Hermione as they had similar interests in potions. He was telling her about Malfoy Apothecaries while she explained to him further what she planned to do at St. Mungo's for her new job.

For a moment, Draco even forgot about the potion, which was still brewing at Ron's flat and which he had started brewing only because of Hermione. And that fact that she lied to him.

But he pushed that thought back for today.

As they walked back towards Draco's office and Hermione's flat, the conversation changed from potions and work to travelling. They kept the topics safe, things like the war or Hogwarts didn't come up and Draco was glad because it would probably spoil Corvus' day. He appreciated that Hermione was keeping the conversation light and funny and even included Corvus, who every now and then showed them something he had spotted.

When they arrived at her destination, Corvus suddenly let out a cry and both adults flinched, turning instantly towards the toddler. Corvus had big tears in his eyes while his lower lip started to quiver.

"What's wrong, Cor?" Draco asked instantly, bending down to him.

Corvus was clutching his bag tightly as the tears spilt over and ran down his cheeks. He started to hiccup as he tried to explain to his father what was wrong.

"Dra-ha-gon," Corvus gasped, needing to take in some air in between. He whimpered as he started to cry hardener and now Draco realised that the stuffed dragon was gone. Draco pulled the boy closer, who clutched at Draco his coat as he continued to cry.

"He must have lost it somewhere," Draco said to Hermione and looked around them to see if the stuffed animal was lying somewhere near them. He then pulled his wand and cast an _Accio_ but even then the toy didn't appear. Draco frowned and Corvus continued to cry.

"Oh, don't worry," Hermione said and opened her bag, which made Corvus look up and wipe his tear-stained eyes. The brunette witch pulled out the grey dragon, which she had bought and held it up, so Corvus could take it.

The toddler wasn't sure if he should take it, knowing it was hers, so he looked with big eyes over at Draco, who watched Hermione with an unreadable expression.

"You don't have to, you bought it as a present as well," Draco started but Hermione waved him off.

"I can buy another one, don't worry. Here, Corvus, you can have mine, alright? No need to cry, love." She smiled at the boy before she reached up and wiped his cheeks clean of the tears, then she pressed the dragon in his hands.

Corvus clutched the animal against his chest, then he suddenly leapt towards Hermione and hugged her tightly. Draco, who was still holding Corvus in his arms, tried to balance him awkwardly.

"No need for tears. It can happen," Hermione soothed the boy while she hugged him back. As Corvus let go again to leant back against Draco's chest, Hermione smiled at him warmly.

"Happy Birthday, Cor."

She continued to gaze at Corvus before she turned to Draco and smiled at him as well. "Thank you for lunch and the hot chocolate, Draco."

"You are welcome," Draco stuttered baffled and then watched how Hermione turned away and walked towards her flat beside their building.

"Thank you," he suddenly called after her and Hermione stopped to turn around. She watched Draco with tender eyes as he cleared his throat nervously.

"Thank you, Hermione," he repeated and her lips twitched at him. "If you want, I would be happy if you could come to Corvus' party later on. I told Ron to tell you but maybe he didn't, so I'll tell you now. You can come. If you want, of course. I mean, Corvus would be happy, and I…," Draco trailed off embarrassed.

Hermione smiled. "You are welcome, Draco. And yes, I would like to come to the party."

* * *

Draco returned to the Manor confused. The past two weeks had been a struggle for him and knowing that Hermione wasn't in the country kept him from doing any irrational things.

But meeting her today had been unexpected and then it had been nice and he felt actually bad for brewing a potion that was about to identify her as a liar.

His head was instantly cleared as they stood in the floo room of the Manor and Corvus was so happy to be back that he wanted to show his new dragon to Lueur. The elf appeared as Draco called her and he instructed her to take Corvus to his room. He was to stay and play there for a bit before she should help him change his clothes and then wait in his room for Draco to come collect them.

Draco let him go and Corvus and Lueur dashed away while Draco walked towards the winter garden where the party would be held.

Guests would arrive soon and Draco went to ensure that everything was ready. That was confirmed as soon as Draco walked past the doors and saw that some of the guests had already begun to arrive. The room was decorated and some of Astoria's friends were there already. Draco spotted Theo and Blaise as they helped Narcissa with the last-minute decorations.

"Where's Corvus?" Narcissa asked as Draco stepped closer.

"In his room with Lueur. She is getting him ready but we will wait for more guests to arrive." Draco said and she took a look around the room.

His mother nodded. "Good, good. Draco could you help me with the buffet for a moment?"

Draco sighed but then followed his mother to help her make everything perfect.

* * *

Corvus didn't go to his room.

Instead, he dragged Lueur to the backside of the Manor. The little elf complained that they shouldn't be there, that they needed to go to Corvus' room instead but the toddler didn't listen.

"Young Master, we 'ave to go back!" Lueur said and Corvus pulled her behind him.

"No!" Corvus said, cradling his stuffed dragon with the other arm. "Play outside!"

"We 'ave to go to yours room!" Lueur cried and Corvus frowned.

"No!" He yelled as the elf was about to grab him. "No, Lu!"

Before the small elf knew what happened, Corvus had managed to stun her in his fit.

"Lu?" He asked now, looking concerned as the elf had fallen to the ground frozen. Tears started to form in the blue eyes.

Corvus poked the little elf and was about to cry when he heard the footsteps approach. The young Malfoy looked up as he saw the wizard step out of the shadows of the hallway.

Blue eyes widened as he recognised the man.

"Well, well, what do we have here," A dark voice chuckled amused as he looked down at the stunned elf. "How impressive."

Corvus blinked surprised.

A wand was drawn.

" _Finite Incantatem_!"

Corvus didn't feel the magic but it tingled a bit as the spell that was supposed to hit the elf, hit him as well. He couldn't feel that his hair changed from blond to brown, that the straight strands started to curl. He couldn't feel that his skin became a bit darker and that his eyes changed their colour from blue to grey.

A grey, which matched the dragon in his arms.

Corvus blinked up again, then down at Lueur, who wasn't stunned anymore but unconscious. The poor thing had hit her head during her fall.

"Eyes like your father's."

The wizard smiled down at the boy.

Then Corvus got up from where he was sitting on the floor, Lueur was forgotten and even the stuffed dragon slipped from his arms as he walked over to the wizard with big, grey eyes.

Grey eyes that matched.

Then Corvus giggled excitedly and held up his hands to be held.

"Granpa!"

And then Corvus was picked up by none other than Lucius Malfoy.


End file.
